A Double Shot at Love
by SwanMillsFiction
Summary: Regina is brooding her loss of Robin when a sympathetic Emma comes to join her at the bar. A first shot leads to a second and before they know, they're sharing more than just a drink. Twice the trouble is to ensue via Magical!Twins. Some crack, lots of fluff, a pinch of angst, and plenty of Swan Queen. OH, and a splash of Red Beauty. Girl Love. Cheers!
1. Shots

This canon divergence takes place by the fourth midseason finale, when Regina and Emma have some shots together. This is mainly a Swan Queen story, but it has a splash of Red Beauty, where Belle and Ruby discover that "Beauty" might have been with the wrong "Beast."

* * *

**A DOUBLE SHOT AT LOVE**

**"SHOTS"**

* * *

After Emma not so delicately put back Killian's heart inside his chest, he placed his hook behind her back and pulled her close to him.

"Now that I can feel you, Swan… Why don't we feel each other more _fully?" _He winked at her, a lecherous grin on his face.

Emma smiled awkwardly at him and gently moved his arms to loosen his possessive grip on her.

"Maybe another time, Killian," she answered feebly, not very comfortable with the suggestion. She leaned forward and kissed him on the corner of his lips to try and not make him upset. "Be patient…"

"Haven't I been patient enough?" He grumbled.

"There's something I need to do first." Emma averted her eyes.

"What is it this time?" He groaned. "I swear if it's the Evil Queen again-"

"She just lost someone important," responded Emma sharply, starting to lose her temper.

"And I just got my _heart_ back from the_ Dark One_, thank you very much."

"You're fine. And he was banished. I'll see you tomorrow." Emma started walking away.

"Swan!"

"Good night."

Emma waved a hand, her back to Hook, ignoring him. She walked down the hallway of Granny's to come to where Regina was sitting alone at the bar, and took the seat next to her.

"I'm not in the mood for a hope speech, Emma." Regina huffed as she stirred her coffee again, pensively.

"You're confusing me for my mother. What you need is a drinking buddy. Shots?"

Regina looked incredulously at Emma, but she could really use a drink this moment.

"Sure. Why not."

"Two, please." The Sheriff asked the waitress at the opposite side of the bar and the young woman poured two tequila shots for them.

"Make mine double," Regina ordered and Emma's mouth gaped in surprise.

"That bad, huh?" The blonde said with sympathy. "Mine, too, then," she asked the waitress.

Regina downed her drink from a big gulp and her eyes even teared a little. That was quite a strong drink and she wasn't really used to it.

"You okay?" Emma asked her after the Mayor coughed.

"I never liked tequila," Regina responded with a raspy voice.

"Ah… you're more of a cider woman, I recall," Emma smiled sympathetically.

"Indeed I am. And you're more of a _rum's_ person," Regina said it with bitterness that didn't go unnoticed.

"Actually, I'm more into vodka," Emma said to evade it. She knew what Regina really meant and it wouldn't be wise to fuel that fire right now.

_But why did Regina despise Hook so much?_

She had the idea it had something to do with his camaraderie with Cora; could also be because he let her be tortured by Greg and Tamara. Now that was much more logical, but when they first arrived in Neverland to look for Henry, Emma could almost swear Regina had set her differences with the pirate apart for a moment_—_ they even seemed to be bonding, until that day she accusingly called him Emma's boyfriend. _The hell where that had even come from?_ In that moment she wasn't even interested in Hook yet. _Interesting Regina had to point this out_, but she better not think too much about it. Neverland was behind them, and now she was indeed Hook's girlfriend. As strange as that notion felt when she looked back at how they met.

Regina felt a little dizzy from her drink. It was unusual of her to drink such strong alcohol and from a gulp, nonetheless, but she tried to keep her regal composure and not show more weakness than what she had already allowed her _new friend_ to witness.

"But I don't think you could hold a second round," Emma said tentatively.

Regina looked at her with a fiery gaze. "Are you challenging me, Miss Swan?"

"Ooooh, we're back to formalities, huh? Perhaps I am, _Madam Mayor,_" Emma smirked.

_Quite smug she looks,_ Regina thought.

"Careful, Ms. Swan, when I play, I play to win."

"So do I, _Regina,_" Emma emphasized her name and it made the Mayor felt a curious shiver.

_Was this what friends did in their nights out?_ Regina didn't really know because she'd never had a friend to live the experience, at least not in the modern world.

"Can I get you something else, Sheriff, Madam Mayor?" Marlene, the waitress, asked them.

"Anything good with Vodka," Regina responded before Emma. "Color me surprised."

Marlene couldn't believe her eyes. Everyone knew Emma and Regina were getting along better now, but to actually see them together chilling in the bar was a whole different sight— and she shipped it.

After serving their drinks, the waitress went inside the kitchen and texted Ruby, who had taken the night off, to share the strange novelty.

* * *

"DUDE, you're not gonna believe this!" Marlene sent her.

"What?" Ruby asked a minute later.

"The Mayor and the Sheriff are totally getting wasted together. HERE. I FUCKING CANT."

"Are you high or what? Stop inventing ships where there're none. It's getting serious, gurl." Ruby replied.

"NO. It's totally happening! Like, DAMN, I already shipped it, now I get to actually witness it!"

"Dude, you said the same about me and Belle, and you wanted to arrange our wedding after we shared a FUCKING TEA together. Like, chill. You have issues."

"I'm right this time, wereBITCH! BYE."

_What the fuck? _Ruby's brow furrowed. She put the cellphone back over the nightstand and turned the lamplight off.

_Me and Belle… _She remembered that afternoon, and still kept the book the auburn-haired lady had loaned her as a 'must read.'

"The Knight in Rusty Armor," Ruby read out loud. "I will return you tomorrow."

* * *

Regina lifted her drink and looked at Emma as she did the same, both women testing the other, but Emma finding this challenge more funny than serious.

"Ready?" Emma asked as she raised a cocky eyebrow.

"My dear, I was born ready to beat you," Regina let out a throaty laugh.

"Actually that was_ me_. You know; Savior," Emma winked, a haughty smile in her lips.

"We shall see," Regina said in a husky voice so undoubtedly the Evil Queen's. She would not be losing to Emma Swan.

"Cheers," said Emma.

They both brought their glasses to their lips to drink from the special cocktail Marlene had procured for them and it was_ really_ STRONG, like a kick in the face.

"Holy shit! How much did you put in it?" Emma uttered to the waitress as she walked by to check on them. They were the only customers left there.

"Didn't you… _still_… want double shots?" Marlene bit her lip and her brow furrowed in guilt. This had so not been an accident, but she played fool.

"God, no. Not on this one," Emma exhaled deeply, her cheeks a healthy pink.

"Giving up already?" Regina asked her and pointed at the half empty glass. "I thought your last name was Swan, not Puss—"

"Woah! Someone's had enough for a night," the Sheriff interrupted before the Mayor finished the line.

"I'm most *hiccup* perfectly *hiccup* fine."

"Sure… but I would still not risk any chances. As Sheriff, I can't allow you to drive in your state."

"As Mayor, I fire you."

"Well… you haven't been Mayor for a while, so..."

"Please. I've 28—30 years of mayorship under my belt. And Queen."

"Okay…" Emma got up from her seat and offered her hand to Regina. "Well, your_ Majesty,_ I'm afraid I'll have to escort you back to the palace since I am your White Knight—royal guard or whatever," Emma blushed lightly at her own offer.

_Had she just unintentionally sound flirtatious?_

"My hero," Regina sneered at her, not even taking notice of the chivalry in her Sheriff, and how both women had been flirting without noticing.

_These two idiots,_ Marlene was grinning behind the cashier as she readied their bill.

* * *

Emma paid for the drinks and helped Regina into the beetle to drive her home. Henry had gone with Mary Margaret and David after Rumplestiltskin was banished from Storybrooke, and the two mothers now traveled in direction of 108 on Mifflin Street.

"I'm really sorry about Robin," Emma said sympathetically after Regina began weeping quietly. The alcohol had made her a little more sensitive, a little more uninhibited— more open.

"He was my soulmate. Tinkerbell told me he was my second chance at happiness, but now… now I have none."

"Tinkerbell?" Emma's brow furrowed, she shook her head trying to find how that made sense.

"Yes. A long time ago, she stole some pixie dust to find me a soulmate."

"So that's how she lost her wings… But how can pixie dust give you a soulmate? I mean, what about True Love and that stuff. I don't think it works like that, does it? I thought magic couldn't create love…" Emma's verbal diarrhea started. She needed to understand.

"It doesn't. Well, not like that… I… I don't know," Regina thought for a moment. "My head hurts so bad, Emma. Can't you speed up?" She rubbed her temples.

"Guess I could," Emma drove slightly faster and they soon made it to Regina's mansion.

The Sheriff opened the door for her and tried to helped her out of the lousy bug, but Regina was mildly offended.

"I'm not that drunk," she dismissed her and walked over to the porch, Emma coming behind her just to make sure.

"Why are there so many keys!" Regina whined as she failed to insert the right key in the door.

"Let me help."

Emma took the keys from Regina's hands slowly. Their hands touched gently, sending a chill down her spine; it was almost like an electrical reaction to the very touch of Regina's hand, but Regina didn't seem have felt it. _Strange._

"Which of these is?" Emma asked.

"That one," Regina pointed at one of them, growing impatient.

She really wanted to get inside home and stop feeling this way. She had felt that sparkle of magic when their hands met briefly, but she didn't want to give it any attention. The sooner she was in her bed the better. Tomorrow she could pretend not to remember any of this. Not to remember Emma could make such good company, or that she could let her walls down with her. It was far too confusing and she was supposed to be grieving Robin, not feeling good around Emma.

They got inside the manor and Regina walked to the foot of the stairs, stumbling a little.

"I shouldn't have drunk that so fast," she mumbled, having difficulty with walking up the steps that lead to her bedroom. She was a little dizzy, and felt a little hot— alcohol at fault.

"Mind if I offer a hand?" Emma asked gingerly, somewhat feeling nervous about the idea of accompanying Regina to her bedroom. "It was kinda my fault for making it into a contest, you know," Emma said sheepishly, licking her lips nervously.

Regina looked at her from over the shoulder, eyes dark and inviting. "Just a hand?" Welp! Perhaps more walls than she thought at first, were already falling.

_What had just gotten to her?_ She didn't know, but both women pretended she didn't just say that.

"Ahem." Emma cleared her throat. "I suppose an arm is more suited."

Emma helped Regina balance out in more ways than just physically, like she doing was this moment, but neither woman was conscious of that. The Mayor pushed the door to her bedroom open with magic and got a little dizzy again. Drinking and using magic was not a good mix.

"Careful with that," Emma held her from the waist and pulled her closer so she didn't trip with the big rug under the bed.

Regina turned to look at Emma with surprise, they had never been _this_ close, and the blonde felt her heart beat so much faster than usual; it felt like a horse race inside her chest and her breathing became much deeper suddenly.

They had only once been_ almost _this close before, that day in the mine. Regina had stepped closer, and for a moment Emma thought they had made a connection. Just like this moment.

_Maybe, just maybe, Regina had always liked her more than she pretended to hate her._

"Regina I…" Emma's words died out before she could gather the courage to say what she had been hiding in her heart for a long time.

_How could she, _when it was clear Regina believed Robin Hood her only shot at love? And she was now with Hook. It made no sense, but she had let it happen, and now she was stuck between the person she_ really_ wanted and the person who wanted_ her,_ but she had no chance with Regina. She couldn't beat fate, could she? Could she be bigger than a soulmate? And Regina was drunk, vulnerable, and Emma couldn't be _that person;_ she couldn't take advantage of this moment of weakness to make an even bigger mess of Regina's life in this night of shots and heart to heart.

But Emma's heart wasn't the only conflicted, as Regina's was beating as though it would burst out of her chest any moment.

_Why had Emma Swan always made her feel everything with such intensity? _Whether it had been hatred or joy, it was always a thousand times stronger if the feeling had been evoked by something this woman said or did. It was as if Emma had some unknown power on her, something that made her lose her mind but at the same time it grounded her...

The words sounded like an echo in her head; words she had said to Snow White once long ago: _True Love is magic._

_Could they both share such thing?_

They shared True Love through Henry, they knew that, but could it be, perhaps, that they also felt something for one another? Maybe Regina was much too confused, but at the same time, with her walls down, she couldn't have seen clearer than this moment why she despised the pirate so much; it was because of Emma.

_How could someone like him, gain her heart?_

He hadn't changed, he only pretended to, to woo Emma, and Regina couldn't understand why Emma was falling for his lies. Not when_ she_ was truly changing for _good_— not to win someone's affection —to really make up for the pain she caused others to suffer, and to deserve— to earn —her own happy ending. _Hopefully._

She had been selfless, but right now she felt _selfish,_ for she wanted to take something from someone; she wanted Killian's happy ending for herself. She wanted Emma; Hook didn't deserve her. The revelation was brighter than a thousand suns.

"Emma," Regina said the name in a sweet whisper and Emma looked deep into brown pools that mirrored her own longing.

Words weren't needed to describe what they felt for each other this moment; what they had felt for a long time, or what they would inevitably continue feeling tomorrow and the day after.

Delicate hands cupped the younger woman's face gently and Emma waited, hopeful that she would be Regina's choice instead of some pixie-dust predestined bullshit, and she wanted to believe. Regina brought their faces much closer and Emma felt her heart beating so strongly inside her chest, and the flutter of a million butterflies inundated her belly she couldn't keep resisting and eliminated the last distance keeping them apart, giving her that _first kiss_ that would forever be burned into their memories. And it was magical.

There was no curse to be broken, but this kiss felt like it had just shattered their misconception of what Love _had to be_; what _it had to look like_; how it _couldn't _be born between the two of them. But here they were, feeling more complete than they'd ever been, and it was the realest thing they'd ever felt for someone.

It was unique. It was special. And it was just for them.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Please let me know what you think. Reviews keep us (fanfic authors) motivated to continue sharing our ideas.


	2. A New Story

**A DOUBLE SHOT AT LOVE**

**"A New Story"**

* * *

Everything made sense all of a sudden. The curse, Storybrooke, Henry; he was the golden link in their story, but to think they would find a family _together_ was unthinkable. But now that they'd kiss, it felt like it was possible and the only thing that made sense — the only thing that felt natural for them.

The Dark Curse had been Rumplestiltskin's tool to finding his son, but in the end, it might indeed provide Regina with her happy ending. The Savior had destroyed the Evil Queen within her, leaving Regina Mills to be born anew from the ashes of hatred, no longer hungry for vengeance, but for a love that would find its way to her. For a Savior that would protect her heart and help it find its way back to light again.

Emma's hands caressed Regina's back as the brunette returned her kiss with deep pain, a pain born out of her years of solitude and which had finally found solace in Emma's embrace, in her kiss, in the touch of her body and her whole being. She could feel her own soul vibrating with Emma's as they held one another closely, intimately.

"Regina…" Emma said in between kisses. "Are you sure about this? About us?"

Regina parted from her lips and held her face gently in her hands, looking into jade eyes with a glazed sight. Emma looked back with mixed fear of rejection but hope for assurance.

"More than anything," Regina responded with a breaking voice as tears streamed down the sides of her face. "Everything is clear now."

The smile Emma gave her was more beautiful than the fairest flower and Regina felt her heart melt inside her chest.

Their love was reciprocate, it wasn't one-sided, or an illusion created with fairy magic. It was complicated but it was oh so real.

"I love you. I've loved you since— I don't even know when. I was so stupid and I–" Emma was sobbing but Regina hushed her.

"Shhh…" The brunette pressed her lips on hers and they kissed between painful, happy tears.

Now that they were together, they couldn't stop their love from manifesting. Like a storm that won't cease until it unleashes its full power, they kissed, touched, and felt each other without any reserve, and they found themselves in that ample bed waiting for their love to come pouring like a rain of summer.

Clothing was scattered all over the floor, disrupting the harmony of the usually impeccable bedroom of the mayor, and it was perfect, it was beautiful, because it was messy— just like them and their love were.

"Emma…"

Regina groaned as she felt coming close the edge with Emma's mouth pleasuring her in new ways she hadn't experienced until then. Fingers tangled in tresses of blonde hair, as her muscles contracted in uncontrollable ways, body covered in beads of sweat.

"Em-ma!"

She was louder this time, feeling she was on the verge of madness or pure enlightenment, but the blonde suddenly stopped when she was _so_ very close to driving her insane. Regina felt confused for a moment, but then blushed when Emma assumed a new position, bringing her sex to align with her lover's.

"Together."

Emma asked, as she had once requested with their magic; to do it together, become one and unleash their power, unleash their senses and enjoy this moment as though they both became one in their love making, sharing the same magic.

_Ecstasy. Bliss. Freedom._

That was what they felt when they reached climax together.

Emma moved to lay with her head over Regina's heaving chest, inside her loving embrace, and for the first time in her life, she didn't want to run away. She wanted to stay. She wanted to share this bed for the rest of her days if Regina allowed it.

"I will never let you go away again," Regina said to her as she tucked a blonde curl behind her ear , and made a confession.

"I knew from the moment I held that scroll, what the thing I loved most was... It was Henry, but it also was you. You're my family, Emma, and the happy ending I don't want to give up ever again."

"What about what Tinkerbell said?" Emma asked worriedly, the story of the 'man with the lion tattoo' still in the back of her mind made her uneasy; insecure. "I... I don't think I could compete with fate if it brought him back to you," Emma looked into her eyes with sadness and fear. "Will I be good enough? Because you're more than I could ever dream of."

"Emma, _you_ are my happy ending and there's nothing that can change that. I could never feel with him, what I feel with you. I love you."

Regina kissed her deeply and they continued to kiss and caress each other until they fell asleep and the light of a new day filtered through the windows and bathed their bedroom with its warmth.

* * *

It was by far the best sleep they'd ever had in years, until someone burst through the door and disrupted the peace of their slumber.

"MOM! Uh… Ma?" Henry shook his head to focus his sight.

_Was he looking at the right picture, or was he having a bad trip?_

"Henry!" Regina pulled the sheets to cover half of her face with it, not that anything had been exposed, but the sight of a second inhabitant in that bed was a shock to him, and even more because it was a very familiar body; a _very_ familiar blonde.

"What? What happened?" Emma opened her eyes lazily, rubbed them, and then… "SHIT! KID! Couldn't you knock or something? _Fuck._"

"I was never here. I didn't see anything," Henry closed his eyes, turned around, hands covering his ears, and ran outside.

_That was disturbing._ No kid—no HUMAN—should ever witness their parents' intimacy. _EW._ He shivered.

After half an hour, both of his mothers shamefully came to join their son in the living room to talk about what had just happened, and ask his reason to burst into the room without calling first, which was something he never did—not unless he had had a nightmare, but that had stopped many years ago.

"I'm sorry you found out like that, Henry," Regina started.

"It actually took us both as a surprise as well, kid…" Emma smiled nervously.

"I know. It's fine. I should've knocked," Henry evaded their eyes, but he kept fidgeting with a book he had in his hands.

"Why didn't you, anyway?" Regina asked with concern.

"Does it have something to do with your book?" Emma asked afterwards, noticing how he held on to it.

"Yeah, but it's no news now I guess."

He showed them the storybook. It was slightly different from his old one and his mothers noticed right away.

"Where did you find this?" Regina took the book in her hands. She opened it and the first chapter began with Regina giving Henry and Emma up, sending them away so they could have their best chance and avoid Pan's curse.

"Interesting… this wasn't in the old book," his brunette mother commented and Emma skipped through pages.

"Look," the blonde showed her a picture. "That's… us."

There was a picture with Emma and Regina standing before the entrance to the mansion. Emma was touching Regina's hand and there was a spark of golden light glowing around their hands as they touched.

"I felt something when I touched you, when you gave me the keys to open the door, and that's the same moment this new chapter begins with," the Sheriff said.

Regina skipped the page but when she looked ahead, there was nothing more than blank pages.

"This story is still writing itself," Henry told them, "I found it in the big manor; the author's house, mom."

"Henry, you did it!"

"Yes, and I couldn't wait to share it with you! That's why I burst through your door..."

"What did I miss?" Emma looked like a clueless puppy at them.

"I… We were looking for the author. I was hoping he would write me a happier story," Regina answered shyly.

"We called it operation Mongoose," Henry said proudly.

"I like it, it has style. I'm in," Emma squeezed her son's shoulder and smiled warmly at Regina.

"Well, you literally are now, mah," Henry pointed at the page showing Emma and Regina touching hands.

"I think there may be no need to find the author anymore, Mom. This is our happy ending!" Henry beamed at Regina, and looked at Emma for assurance.

"Regina, I made you a promise I intend to keep. I will give you your happy ending, if you let me." Emma smiled warmly. She took Regina's hand gently and brought it to her lips to kiss it. "Want us to be a family?"

"Of course I do." Regina's smile was warmer than the light of dawn and the three of them were happiest than they could ever imagine.

_Who would have thought this would be in the mind of the Author? _But it was perfect, just like their little family.

Everything was perfect and beautiful until a thought interrupted Regina's peace of mind.

"What day is today?" Regina looked at Emma with concern; Emma felt confused for a moment.

"Monday?" Emma answered "Why—crap!"

"It's school day, Henry! You're going to be late." Regina ran to get to the car, but her car had remained in the parking lot near Granny's. Emma's would be.

"Seriously? I just made the greatest discovery! This isn't fair."

"Sorry, kid. Listen to your mom and fetch your backpack." Emma raised an eyebrow.

"_Which_ mom?" He grumbled.

"BOTH. Now get your butt in the car, we're taking you to school because we missed the buss."

* * *

They arrived in school a few minutes late, but they couldn't deny the former mayor's and the sheriff's kid the entrance.

"Thank you very much, Mrs. McKenzie," Regina said to the principal, just outside the door to his classroom.

"Have some money for lunch, Henry. Emma will pick you up when you're out, honey," Regina kissed him on the forehead.

"This is humiliating," the poor boy wanted the earth to swallow him. _Why me? _HE was too old for their public displays of love.

"We love you," Regina said as she watched Emma give him a hug and pat him on the back.

They finally left and Henry was beyond mortified; his mothers would always see him as a little child, but he was no longer one, and he wished they could find someone else to bestow their love on and just give him a _diluted_ version of their adoration. Maybe a pet? Or why not each other? He just didn't want his classmates to tease him because he was somewhat of a spoiled kid.

Emma and Regina came back to the mansion. Regina was no longer mayor and didn't feel like going anywhere else this moment. She would later go pick up her car from the parking lot at Granny's, and Emma had to go to the station to work— not that she had any desire to do so, now that she was a love-struck puppy that finally got the bone, but she had a job.

"Will I see you around the station later?" The blonde asked innocently, her hand refusing to let go of Regina's.

"I don't know. I'm no longer the Mayor so I really have nothing to do there."

"Well, maybe I could call in sick…" Emma made her puppy eyes.

"And trust your father to take care of the town? I don't think so," Regina let out a throaty laugh.

"Oh, come on. He does his best."

"I know, but... it's a mystery from where you got your wits, honestly, Emma." Regina chuckled.

"Can't really argue that…" Emma mumbled and Regina couldn't help smiling. Even Emma admitted her parents weren't that bright.

She stepped closer and pressed her body against Emma's, making a nice warm contrast in comparison to the cold metal of the VW bug behind the blonde's back.

"Well, despite your parents, I love you," Regina said before claiming rosy lips with crimson in a sensual kiss that, had Emma been male, she would surely have a 'tent' in her pants now.

"Mmm," the brunette even moaned into the kiss, feeling how Emma's hands began to wander down her back, but had to stopped them before reaching down to grab her ass, it was too tempting.

"You little minx," Emma groaned when Regina pulled away and smirked with satisfaction.

"It's a shame you have to work…" Regina teased her even further.

"You really enjoy torturing me," Emma glared at her.

"Old habits die hard," Regina winked.

"You _really_ are an Evil Queen. I hadn't seen it before, until now," Emma stepped closer, and pulled her into her again, hands firm behind her in the curve of her spine.

"And what are you going to do, Savior? _Destroy_ me?" Regina said with sass.

"Exactly." Emma leaned forward and spoke in her ear. "I will fuck you so hard tonight you will cry for mercy."

"Oh really?" Regina asked challengingly, already feeling a tingling sensation between her legs. Maybe it wasn't a bad idea if Emma took a sick day.

"Really."

With that promise, Emma turned around and walked with a cocky attitude back to the yellow car. Regina almost betrayed herself and asked her to come back, but she bit her lip and just watched the Sheriff leave the house.

"Mmm Ms. Swan..." she grinned contently. She was horny, but she would have to wait. Good things happened when you had patience.

* * *

_Patience, patience._

Regina felt anxious throughout the day. She cleaned every corner, every shelf, but the mansion was already spotless and she couldn't find something to get her mind off the promised _punishment_ she would be getting later, and she kept replaying the event of their lovemaking in her head, as was Emma.

Emma couldn't concentrate at the station. She hadn't filled more than two files without making an error and having to start over. Regina occupied her mind more than ever, and the last thing she could think of this moment was…

"Killian… Hi. What are you doing here?" She got up from her desk and went to meet him in the hallway.

"Isn't it obvious, love? I wanted to see you," he leaned forward and tried to kiss her, but she stopped him midway with her hand on his chest.

"We need to talk," Emma told her and the look in his blue eyes was colder and more dangerous than a blizzard.

"Talk? Talk. Talk is all you want to do with me and I'm tired, Swan. What must a man do for you to give in? I think I've done everything you've asked me to and I've yet to get any crumbs for what I bargained for," he demanded.

"This isn't the place," Emma walked to the door and went outside, him following behind her.

David observed them from the corner of his eye, but he couldn't really intervene. They were both adults and as much as he wanted to punch the pirate right on his stupid face, he couldn't just do it. Not without a reason.

"What you bargained for? Excuse me?" Emma was offended.

"My ship. Have you forgotten?"

"So you traded the Jolly Roger to get laid with me? Is that what you're telling me?"

"What? No! I traded it for the bean that brought me here, to you, to save you. Give a man a little more credit."

"You didn't save me. You gave me a memory potion that made me remember the last years of sorrow; what Regina had replaced with memories I could never be thankful enough for."

"But without them you couldn't have come back to save your parents."

"It was Regina who saved them! All of us. Again."

"Regina. Regina. All I ever hear from you is that bloody bitch's name!"

"Well, get used to it because I love her!" Emma finally exploded.

Hook looked at Emma with sheer confusion.

_How could anyone resist him?_ He was devilishly handsome, and had a line of women waiting for him to lay his eyes on them. But, no, he had to focus on the _one girl_ who had said no repeatedly, making it his _goal_ to conquer her, no matter what it took. He _would_ have Emma Swan, and he wouldn't be losing her to the Evil Queen.

"Well, she's your step-grandmother. I assume you'd grow to like her. But what does that have to do with us? Why are we even arguing, love, if what we have is more special?"

"Oh my God, you don't get it," Emma was baffled.

Their quarrel had already gathered a few observers around them but Emma didn't really pay attention to the people surrounding them, as she was both in awe and pissed at how dense and self-centered this man was. He was so shallow and selfish, he couldn't grasp on the fact she had just broken up with him.

"I do," it was Mary Margaret's voice the one to answer now.

She emerged from the crew, baby in stroller, as she had been walking from the town hall to here to cheer an upset baby that missed his daddy.

"Mom, I can explain."

"It's okay, Emma. You don't have to."

"Well, please do explain to me because you lost me."

Snow walked closer to where the pirate stood and signaled Emma to remain silent.

"It is _you_ who lost Emma," Mary said calmly.

"You're going to stay away from our daughter," David said after her. He had come out right after hearing their voices become much louder.

"What now? What did I do?" The pirate scratched his head with his hook.

"Besides comparing Emma's value to that of your boat—" David said irritated.

"Ship. _Mate,_" Hook corrected, offended.

"Right… your _ship._ You completely missed the point where my daughter just told you she's in love with someone else."

"She wants nothing with you," Mary Margaret told him.

"Swan. Love. What are they talking about?" Hook used a sweetened tone of voice now, "I changed for you. You can't do this to me."

"No, you didn't, and I owe you _nothing._ Please let's just forget about this. I can't be with you because I don't love you," Emma said more calmly now.

"Everyone, please, there's nothing to see here. You can go back to your activities," Snow ordered the crowd.

Some people had been recording the event with their cellphones. After coming back in the last curse, some of their gadgets had been "upgraded" to today's standards, and the footage would soon become viral in the local social media.

"I will go, Swan, but I won't give up. I know what we had was real, you're just confused and need time to remember."

"Seriously? Just go. Leave me the hell alone." Emma brought a hand to her forehead. _Was he for real?_

Everybody left and Mary Margaret and David went to embrace their daughter. "Are you alright?" They asked her, but she only nodded and swallowed her angry tears. It was very moving to have her parents looking out for her like this. It still was hard to believe she was no longer a lost girl who didn't matter.

Regina was checking her inbox because she still received messages from people who preferred her as Mayor— hard to believe— but Snow wasn't precisely capable of the task. She was going through her messages when an email from Henry alerted her about a video that had gone viral, and which everyone in school was sneaking to see in the lab.

Regina saw everything that went down outside the station and she was both touched about Emma's love declaration, her rupture with Hook, and FURIOUS about that asshole not taking a 'no' for an answer. Enough was enough and she would make sure he did give up on his attempt to recover the love he lost, and which she gained, because one thing was sure: she would not be losing Emma.

Regina went to the mirror and looked for Hook in its reflection, finding him as he got drunk in a filthy tavern close to the docks.

_Found you._ She grinned maliciously and disappeared in a purple puff of magic.

* * *

"Captain Hook, I would say I'm surprised to find you in a rat hole such as this, but… I'm not."

"Cut the crap, bitch. What do you want?" He turned with difficulty to see her, his head was spinning.

"You're going to stay away from Emma," Regina ordered him with her queenly voice.

"Or what?"

"Your heart may be safe from the _crocodile, _but it isn't safe from me," Regina said dangerously as her palm came to rest over his chest, right where his heart began beating faster, like a scared mouse's.

"I don't fear you, you bloody wench," she spat.

"But your heart tells me a different story," Regina chortled. "I will only repeat it one more time, pirate. Stay away from Emma. Stay away from us."

If there was something Hook valued more than finally getting inside Emma's pants, was keeping his heart inside his chest._ Survival._ His life was more valuable than any dumb bitch that had dared reject him a last time, so he decided to make the right choice.

_There's plenty of fish in the sea._ Losing his life for just _one_ wasn't worth it.

* * *

Regina returned to the mansion.

The day had felt eternal without Emma, but she didn't want to overwhelm her with her presence in the station, specially not after what had just happened. If Emma needed her, she would come if she called her. She remembered that when you held too hard onto someone, they eventually slipped through your fingers and left you. She didn't know how to love very well, but she was learning. Henry had taught her.

(((Ring))) Her phone's ringtone startled her, but it made her happy to see the ID of the caller.

"Emma!" Regina said a little too excitedly.

"God, I needed to hear your voice," Emma said at the other end. "Miss me? Because I sure damn miss you."

"You don't have to," Regina said with a big smile.

"Huh?" Emma got a little confused.

"Miss me. Look behind you," the brunette responded, and in a puff of magic, she was now in the station with Emma.

But, surprise, so was Mary Margaret.

"Oh." Regina muttered when she saw the pixie-haired lady with her baby boy in her arms, sitting on the couch close to the empty cells.

"Woah. I'll never get used to that trick," Emma said and Regina felt alarmed for a moment.

_Had she done wrong by just poofing here without being requested to?_

"At least you're doing it to come to me, rather than to run from me," Emma smiled brightly and Regina relaxed.

"I would kiss you, but your mother is looking at us," Regina said in low voice as she came to take the seat at the front of the Sheriff's desk in the tiny office.

"She knows," Emma told her.

"As does the rest of Storybrooke, apparently…" Regina mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Emma narrowed her gaze.

"Henry sent me a message about a video that went viral at school, and it had everything about your quarrel with Hook and… and about us."

"Oh my God, and you saw it? All of it?"

"Yes…"

"Shit. Should I start looking in the bottom of the sea for a one-handed corpse?"

"No. But thank you for the trust," Regina got up for her seat, feeling offended.

"No, wait. Regina, I'm sorry," Emma got up and caught her hand before the sorceress used her trick to poof away from her again. "Stay, please."

Regina looked down at the hand holding hers and laced her fingers with Emma's, and Emma felt the burden of her confrontation with Hook just fade into nothingness. Regina's touch was enough to vanquish any darkness.

"I never thought I could love like this; like I love you," the sheriff walked closer to the ex-mayor.

"Emma…" Regina smiled warmly.

Snow couldn't really tear her eyes from looking at them, at their hands.

Regina's smile and her eyes looked just like the way they did— no, even brighter —than when she had talked to her about her love for the stable boy. And now she could look away; she had nothing to worry about. What Regina felt for her daughter was true and Snow knew better than anyone that Regina would protect that love with everything she had in her. It was relieving. Emma had found someone who would fight against the world to protect her, and the aftermath of the first curse had come to quite an unexpected outcome, but one that was favorable for all of them. Nobody could deny their bond was real, so she accepted it. She was a firm believer of hope and love and she now believed in Regina's. Emma's, she had noticed since before the curse broke, but had tried to look away because back then it was insane. Now? Not even on the slightest.

"I want to kiss you so badly," Emma told her as she gazed deeply into brown eyes.

"Oh, just kiss her already. Don't stop because of me. It's not like I cannot hear you," Mary yelled from the couch.

"Oops?" Emma closed an eye, a big smile drawing in her lips.

"Well, seems like we have no choice," Regina smiled back.

Emma pulled her into her arms and kissed her deeply.

David came into the station with Henry with him. After what had happened with Hook, Charming thought it was best to let Emma take a break, and him and Mary Margaret would look after Henry when he was out of school, so she could talk about her feelings with Regina. They didn't know they had already confessed their feelings, but now it was obvious they had already shared more than a love confession.

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary," Regina told them. "I wouldn't like burdening you with extra work, seeing as you have your hands full with your own son. I know what it's like to have a small child and a job on top of it." She said it without meaning harm, but Snow and David were reminded they didn't know what it was like to raise a child— at least not until now —and so was Emma, as she had also given her kid up. Some wounds took a little longer to heal.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean—" Regina apologized when she realized.

"It's alright. We're still learning and you're right. It's no easy task, and topped with being Mayor, I don't know how you managed to do it all on your own, Regina." Snow responded.

"It took time," Regina sighed deeply.

"So… where am I staying?" Henry interrupted their moment.

"Home, kid. With us," Emma responded and Regina looked at her with watery eyes.

To hear Emma call 'home' her house, touched her deeply. Her home was finally complete with Emma in it, the three of them, it couldn't be but her biggest wish come true. Finally.

"Okay." Henry smiled kindly and went to embrace both of them. "I love you, moms."


	3. Knight in Rusty Armor

**A DOUBLE SHOT AT LOVE**

**"Knight in Rusty Armor"**

* * *

Ruby went to chat with Marlene when the break up video made it to her facebook profile. She was in shock because her friend had been right about this ship, it was almost unbelievable. _Almost._

Everyone had thought in the beginning, before they believed in curses and saviors, that the blonde sheriff and the mayor had some sort of secret affair they didn't want made public for Henry's sake— similarly to how Regina and Graham were lovers. _Their mayor certainly had a thing for her law enforcement;_ that had been a collective suspicion until the curse was broken and everyone stopped thinking that because it was outrageous.

_The daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, in love with the Evil Queen?_

"Woah! And I didn't want to believe you," Ruby said to her.

"Yeah! I feel so proud of my babies," Marlene was smiling like an idiot, looking at the video for the hundredth time.

"Your babies? Dude, they're older than us."

"I know. Well, not technically… but don't mind me! It's just my shipper heart, Rubes, it never fails."

"That's debatable."

"No, it is not."

"It is so."

"Rubes," Marlene squinted at her.

"Well…" Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Have you even seen Belle again?" Marlene narrowed her gaze on Ruby.

Ruby shrugged in defeat.

"You're no wolf, you're just a big _pussy. _A big, fluffy pussy that needs someone special to rub her belly!" Marlene flexed her fingers.

"Don't you dare," Ruby shot her a glare. She HATED tickles.

"Talk to Belle, Ruby. She's been alone since she kicked Gold's ass out of town. Who knows, maybe—"

"Oh lord. Please stop," Ruby covered her ears.

"MAYBE you can be_ friends _again. Sheesh, you don't even let me talk, gurl."

"Ok. Sorry. I will… I will call her."

"That's all I wanted to hear. Now let's go back to work before the Alpha howls."

"Marlene Rodriguez, clean that goddam table! Ruby Lucas, why aren't you taking any orders? Move! I pay you to work, not to gossip, girls," Granny yelled from the service window.

"Shit. Too late."

Both servers went back to their business, and when it was time for a break, Ruby decided to drop by the library to return a book.

It surprised Belle to see her, it was unusual of the werewolf to come to this place, but it was a pleasant occurrence and the librarian came quickly from behind her little desk to greet her. But Ruby was nervous, she kicked herself mentally for having listened to Mar and didn't know how to make conversation with the beauty standing before her.

"The Knight in Rusty Armor," Belle recognized the book she carried in her hands. "I had almost forgotten I lent you it. Did you like it?"

"Uh… yes. It is… touching, and it helped me learn a lot more about myself." Ruby answered shyly, averting her eyes to evade the light brown gaze of the precious lady.

"Are you here to bring it back?" Belle asked kindly.

"Give back. Yes. It's been—what? Years? O.M.G. It actually has. I'm SO embarrassed."

"Aw, don't be. I have another copy. You may keep this one if you wish."

"Oh, I don't want to abuse your kindness."

"You don't. I wanted you to have it… It's a beautiful piece of literature from this world; a world more understanding of our defects, our strength, and deep wishes."

Ruby smiled at Belle as held the book against her chest. She decided to keep it and felt happy she had seen the other girl as a friend again, not just as her waitress at Granny's. It seemed like a good start— not that she was looking after _more._ Nope.

Ever since Belle had been reunited with the Dark One, the werewolf lost contact with her, and she didn't feel like they had anything in common to begin with. Belle was a _bookworm_; a very intelligent woman that enjoyed most spending her time in the library, while Ruby was just a waitress who didn't really like reading, and didn't consider herself someone _bright. _But she was very empathic, and she was good listening; she had quite a good ear (no pun intended).

But she was more into fashion, clubbing, and flirting with whoever caught her eye that day— _quite shallow_, now that she thought about it. She felt she wanted to grow up; that wasn't her _true_ self, just her old persona from the curse. The curse had provided her with the friends she couldn't have in the Enchanted Forest because everyone feared her for her nature. Everyone had feared the Wolf.

"Will you visit us more often? Belle interrupted her thoughts.

"Us?" Ruby shook her head in confusion.

"Me. The books. The library. It just… it gets lonely here. People prefer Internet nowadays," Belle said shyly.

"Sure," Ruby smiled widely, and didn't notice the deep blush her cheeks had this moment.

"Great! I'll see you around then." Belle flashed a bright smile, and watched the brunette leave as her little break would be over soon.

* * *

Back in the Swan Mills manor, the family of three had just finished having dinner and they were now cleaning the table and doing the dishes together. It was such a simple, mundane chore, but it felt wonderful to be doing it together. Their lives had been the hardest in the last years, and doing something as normal as cleaning a dish, felt like an impossibly special thing.

Regina washed the fine china, Emma dried it with care, and Henry would put everything in its respective place and teach his blonde mother along the way. She was new to this house but she would soon find her way around the kitchen to help more. Maybe even cook.

After playing some video games with Henry, Emma tucked him in and finally made it to the bedroom where Regina was already in her elegant nightgown, reading peacefully in bed, and seemed really enthralled by the novel in her hands.

"Hey…" the blonde called tentatively at her lady.

"Hey," the brunette responded.

Regina closed the book and put it on the nightstand beside her, and lowered her reading glasses on her nose to look at a somewhat confused Emma.

"So…" the blonde looked around the room as if she'd lost something.

"So?" Regina squinted at her.

"Well…" Emma continued looking around her.

"Are monosyllables all you plan to use to communicate tonight, dear, because that will be one long and unappealing conversation for me, Emma. I would much rather continue reading the Mockingjay." Regina lowered her book and looked at her curiously.

Henry had given her those books and told her that he's also loved the film adaptation they'd gotten to watch while in their stay in New York.

"Sorry." Emma's brow furrowed.

"You're still not saying much, my dear," Regina picked her book again and opened it in the page she'd left it.

"_President Snow_—that's hilarious," Regina chuckled.

"Right…" Emma rolled her eyes.

Regina observed as Emma went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, splashed some water to her face, and finally got into the grey silk pajamas Regina had left for her to wear; then came back to the room and sat on bed with somewhat of a bad mood.

"Will you tell me what's bothering you, or must I guess?" Regina put the book and her glasses away, and turned to the side to look at Emma.

"Well…"

"And please use more than just one word."

"Forget it, Regina, it's nothing."

"Hmm. I'm certain it's not _'nothing,'_ but if you don't feel you can share whatever is troubling you with me, I will respect that."

Regina went to kiss Emma on the cheek, turned to her side of bed and closed her eyes to sleep.

"Please turn the lights off for me, dear."

Emma reluctantly obeyed and got under the sheets as well, but it wasn't easy to fall asleep.

Half an hour had gone by when Regina couldn't stand it anymore.

"I know you're awake and it's preventing me from sleep, too. Just tell me what it is, Emma."

"Ugh… well… I… I wanted to be with you," the blonde finally confessed.

"We're together, my love. I don't see— oh," Regina understood what Emma wanted to do.

"You looked so involved in that novel, I didn't want to disturb you."

"Emma, come here, you idiot," Regina pulled her into her arms and kissed her face sweetly.

"Being with you will always be better than any book, but I thought you would be drained after everything that happened today."

"Yes… and I am, but… but I promised you I would… You know," Emma blushed.

"Fuck me hard until I cried for mercy, I recall," Regina chortled.

"Yeah… Well, I just want to love you," Emma said innocently.

"Oh, my sweet Emma."

Regina kissed rosy lips softly as her hands stroked soft blonde curls, and the brunette moved to straddle Emma's stomach.

"Ah-ah," she prevented the blonde from trying to change places with her. "Let me be the one to love you tonight."

Regina knew how emotionally and physically draining this day had been for Emma, and what she needed this moment was assurance and the warmth only a true lover could provide her. And she would.

Regina started kissing her neck tenderly, brushing soft lips over warm skin before placing humid kisses all down to her collarbone. She could feel Emma's temperature rising as she slowly unbuttoned her pajamas, and once the top was off, the brunette cupped supple breasts in her hands to fondle. She brought her mouth to one of her soft peaks and felt it harden in her lips, and pulled it with her teeth lightly, but firm enough to cause Emma to start moaning.

Emma's chest heaved, her breathing more labored, and beads of perspiration soon began appearing all over her body. Regina moved to the other breast needing her attention and suckled on her nipple, while her naked thigh made pressure against Emma's growingly humid center, feeling the silken fabric of her sleeping trousers become wet as the friction continued.

She continued advancing on Emma's torso, slowly trailing her tongue down Emma's abdomen; she placed a kiss right below her navel, and looked up at her.

"They need to go," Regina announced as her fingers teased the waistband of Emma's pajamas.

"Mhm…" the blonde moaned, and bit her lip when she felt Regina pull on the strings of her pants to untie the knot.

"Lift," the former mayor ordered, and Emma blushed deeply as she lifted her hips so Regina could pull out her sleeping trousers, leaving her completely naked.

Regina placed a kiss on her right knee and slowly made a trail of sloppy kisses up her inner thigh, getting with each of them closer to Emma's core.

"I love you."

She said before indulging in the nectar of Emma's arousal, lapping and tasting each drop she offered.

"My luscious Swan."

Regina continued praising her beloved, savoring her body and bringing with each stroke of her tongue, Emma closer to orgasm. _MMMM_, the brunette hummed while she had her little pearl trapped in her mouth, and two fingers slowly ventured inside Emma, moving inside her to bring even more pleasure than she already had.

She was very close to climax and Regina continued pushing, twisting, and pulling her fingers back and forth, as her tongue circled the pink swollen bud, stimulating her beautiful clitoris.

"Come for me, my love." Regina encouraged a coy Emma, and Emma let her pleasure come crashing like a wave through her body; a deep groan assuring Regina of her success.

"Wow. That was…" Emma tried to catch her breath. "Amazing."

"_You _are amazing," Regina told her, and moved to hold Emma in her secure embrace.

They canoodled for a while until their bodies fully relaxed and eventually fell asleep.

* * *

The weeks that followed were much calmer for everyone, but every morning carried the same struggle for Emma: she found it _impossible_ to part from Regina's side to go to the station. It was like teenage love when you can't get enough of the other person, when you even fear to blink because it means a fraction of a second of not seeing them. But life had to carry on, and Emma would have to satiate her hunger with a big smooch, or with some _morning love— _if the time allowed.

They were so deep in love they looked stupid. Doe eyes; yearning looks; long, deep sighs. When would they end? Well, apparently this day.

When Regina came out of the bath, she suddenly felt the floor moving, and went to sit down on the toilet to stabilize.

_That was very strange,_ but she thought she had moved too fast and that was what caused her dizziness.

Emma was in the station when nausea sent her running to the restroom, turning her bowel in the toilet and feeling very tired. Her father asked her if she was all right and Emma told him '_it must have been that burrito'_ she had for breakfast.

Regina had asked her to cut on the junk food, but Emma couldn't go a second week without having her once "usual" breakfast at Granny's, so she blamed it on the change of diet. She needed her _crap_ because her stomach was a trashcan— so to speak.

More days passed and it was this time Regina who had to run before her bowel betrayed her and made of her expensive carpet a thing to send right to the garbage.

_Upset stomach and morning sickness,_ Regina couldn't find the source to this _evil_. Or maybe…

_No. Please no._

Regina went to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test, but tried it behind Emma's back, and the result came out: Positive_._

_No! How? Why?_

Regina was overwhelmed with her feelings. This child could only be…

"Robin's."

But that would mean _he_ was her _True Love_, and he was gone. Why was fate such a jerk with her? How would Emma take it? Would she be accepting or…

"No. I won't give you up." She placed a hand over her still small belly and cried for hours in her bedroom.

When Emma arrived home with Henry, she heard the echo of Regina's sobbing and ran upstairs as fast as she could, and found Regina sleeping in bed, but crying from probably a nightmare.

"Regina. Regina. Wake up, please. Everything's okay. I'm here, love," she gently shook her shoulder. "It's just a bad dream."

Regina opened her eyes slowly but seeing Emma's face of worry only made her feel even more miserable.

_How could she tell Emma she wasn't her True Love?_ How could she tell her she was expecting someone else's child? _How could she—_

"Please talk to me," Emma hugged her.

"I can't!" Regina pushed her away.

"What happened?" Emma grew even more worried.

"This is what happened!" Regina showed her the pregnancy test and braced a pillow to continue sobbing.

Emma's eyes opened wide, and she felt her blood sink to her feet with the revelation.

"Well, Robin is one lucky bastard," Emma muttered. "Do you want me to find him? Let him know so you both make a decision?"

"Emma…" Regina turned to look at her with horror. "There's nothing for him to decide; I _am_ keeping this baby."

"God, no, Regina. I didn't mean that."

"Then what did you mean?" Regina was defensive.

"If you would prefer to raise this child with him. Or with me."

"You would accept this child?" Regina felt hopeful again.

"Regina, I accept any child _you _may give me."

Emma smiled warmly and Regina sought her embrace to feel protected. True Love or not, this was the person she wanted to share her life with, with whom she wanted to raise her second child and live happily ever after.

A while back, Emma had asked Regina why she'd never had own children, and she explained to her that she'd only wanted to have a family with Daniel.

The day she was forced to marry the King, she stole a potion from Cora's vault of sorcery and claimed: "Any children that I may have, shall only be from my one True Love," and that was how she cursed herself so she would never give Leopold, or anyone else, the children that belonged to Daniel, whom she believed had been her True Love. She never thought she would find that again.

It hurt to know this anecdote, not only because it spoke about a dark chapter in Regina's story, but also because 'biology' said the _seed of life_ could only come from a man, and Emma wished with all her heart it could be_ hers_ instead, because the saddest truth about this was that Regina's True Love was Robin; Tinkerbell had been right all along.

Emma became depressed at the notion, but she hid it as best as she could for the next couple of weeks so she wouldn't burden Regina in her condition. Her own health continued to fluctuate, but she kept blaming that _stupid_ diet Regina suggested her to follow.

"Again?" David asked his daughter as she came back from the restroom wiping her mouth with a piece of paper.

"Ugh… That green diet Regina has me on. I think it's making me detox from all the crap I've been eating since forever, and, still, I remain bloated," she rubbed at her slightly swollen stomach. "See?"

David didn't think she looked puffy, and shook his head in negative. "So that's how she keeps her nice shape…" He mumbled. "Those diets don't work for everyone, Emma, maybe you should quit it."

"Yeah… Wait, what?" Emma narrowed her gaze on her father. "Have you been _ogling_ my woman?"

"What? No! It's just… obvious she takes care of herself."

"Oh my God. You just lied to me. In my own face."

"Hey! Don't use your super power on your father, young lady. That's disrespectful."

The poor soul wanted to bury his head in the ground but it wasn't possible, so he had to do what any man would: deny everything or turn the table.

"It was only once and she was the one who came at me."

Emma looked at him again and saw he was telling a truth. Her mood swings were bad lately and today was just not the day to hear about how her sexy girlfriend had once tried to seduce her father, and yet she absolutely needed to know.

"Details," Emma demanded.

"We were cursed!" David said desperately.

"Hmm… Where have I heard that before? OH, NO."

Emma remembered her own mother saying the same thing to explain why she'd had a one-night stand with Dr. Whale before the curse broke.

"You and my— UGH —I think I'm going to throw up again."

"No. Emma. We didn't do anything. She tried to use her _lady charms_ to prevent me from looking for Mary Margaret, but I resisted, I swear."

Emma crumbled on the floor and cried like a hapless child, and only made David feel even worse than he already did. _Some father he was._ He should've accepted he found Regina attractive, because who wouldn't?

He came to her side and tried to hug her, but she yelled at him.

"Leave me alone!"

"Emma, I'm sorry… But it's the truth. And we didn't—"

"I don't wanna hear more about it."

"Sweetheart…"

"Stop. I know she's beautiful, and I'm a fool to believe I will be good enough for her. She likes men more, I think that's obvious. I've no fucking idea why she's with me, especially now that she's expecting Robin's baby. Her _darned_ True Love's child!"

"Regina's pregnant?" David came to sit beside his daughter. "I'm sorry, Emma. I had no idea you were going through this on your own."

"Yes…" Emma wiped her tears and looked at her father again.

"But she's with you for a reason, Emma. She loves you."

"Or just because she can't have Robin Hood," Emma said bitterly.

"I do think she loves you, sweetheart," David tried to soothe her.

"Maybe, yes… But her _"true love" _is him, dad," Emma's voice sounded so small and hurt.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Long story short; she drank something to make her infertile, and that curse would only break when she was reunited with her True Love, resulting in the creation of life together; of a child born out of their light magic."

"Oh… I'm familiarized with that type of curse. I'm really sorry, Emma. If there's anything I can do for y—"

(((Ring))) The ringing of the emergency line startled them.

David took the call and it was about a robbery. One of the merry men from the forest had stolen a rifle for hunting and the shop owner wanted to shoot him, but decided to leave justice to their police. They were no longer in the medieval world and there would be consequences for both of them.

"On my way," David told Larry, the shop owner.

"I'm coming, too. I have a sudden urge to punch someone in the face," Emma told him and David nodded.

_That was more like the Emma he knew._

* * *

They searched the woods for the alleged thief, but when Emma went running behind him, she suddenly blacked out and the next thing she knew was she was in a room in the hospital and Regina was sitting on the couch for visitors.

"What happened?" Emma asked as she rose to a sitting position. Regina quickly went to her side.

"Be careful, Emma. You took quite a fall, but so far is just the bruising on your face and arms. We're waiting for Dr. Whale to tell us if there's anything else."

Not a minute had passed when the doctor emerged through the door.

"Glad to see you've awoken, Emma," Dr. Whale said as he came to their side.

"Is there anything we should worry about, doctor?" Regina quickly asked him.

"Yes, but it might be in the interest of the patient to discuss the results in private and then deci—"

"Just tell us," Emma ordered him.

"Very well. Ms. Swan, you are with child, and you have a low hemoglobin count, which isn't so uncommon in pregnant women. You absorbed most of the impact from the fall with your forearms and the product didn't receive any harm, but you need to supplement your diet, as you present a mild case of anemia."

Emma and Regina were baffled. They looked at each other and then at the doctor without speaking a word.

"I will prescribe you pre-natal vitamins. Pregnant women who are anemic have an increased risk for problems when their baby is born, particularly if they are anemic in the first trimester. If you have any questions or present severe morning sickness that causes frequent vomiting, you may call me. My line is always open. But if you come to have abdominal pain or present spotting, you come right away. Questions?"

Emma and Regina were still dumbfounded. A nurse in the speaker then called Dr. Whale to the operating room and he had to excuse himself.

"Now, if you excuse me, I have surgery to attend. Nurse Michael will come and give you your prescription."

* * *

When they got back home, they both remained silent, as had been on the drive here. It made no sense to Emma and her head was still hurting from the fall to put too much thought into it. She didn't want to talk at all and just went to lay on the couch in the living room.

Regina didn't know how to react to the news. Emma had accepted her child, but she didn't feel she could accept Hook's _spawn._ Was she monstrous for feeling this way? Perhaps. But she couldn't do much about it. She was incredibly disappointed in Emma and wanted to rip Killian's balls off.

Regina's pregnancy was the result of True Love, but Emma's? That was a stupid accident you only made once in your life, not twice. And definitely _not_ at this age.

"Here are your vitamins, and I made you some chicken soup," Regina said with indifference and it hurt Emma.

"Thank you," the blonde responded quietly.

"Make sure you stay hydrated, and let me know if you feel the lightest of cramps, or anything out of the ordinary."

"Regina…"

"Yes, dear?"

"Why are you so cold with me?"

"I just made you soup, how is that _me_ being _cold?_"

"You know what I mean…" Emma rolled her eyes and it only did worse to Regina's mood.

"Because you are so incredibly immature! How could you make the same mistake twice? Some idiot you are," Regina exploded.

"Henry was no mistake. Well, he wasn't _planned…_ but you know what I'm trying to say."

"But with HIM? With _Hook?_ I can't believe you. Were you even considering a life with him? What kind of life would that have been? He had nothing to offer you!"

"I never slept with Hook!" Emma yelled angrily.

"Well, that makes it even better. Who knows whom you've been messing around with. For all I know, it could be the seven dwarves!"

"Unlike you, Regina, I'm not sleazy."

"What?" Regina narrowed her eyes on her.

"Yes. You knew this Robin for what? A week? And fucked him only because he had a dumbass lion tattoo. Give me a fucking break! You're more gullible than my mother—OH—and speaking of my parents; you even tried to seduce my father before the curse broke. What the hell's wrong with you?"

"I'm so not having this conversation now."

"Good, because I'm done with you!"

"What?" Regina felt her heart break in a million pieces. "What does that mean?"

"What you heard. And I'm leaving today. I'm leaving now."

"There you go, Miss Swan, always running away when things get real. Well, I have big news for you: relationships aren't always a walk in the park. Time to grow up."

"Why do you want me anyway? I'm not your stupid True Love. Go find your happy ending with that married man and continue collecting broken hearts, because you… you've just broken mine."

"Emma…" Regina tried to reach for her arm.

"Don't touch me!" Emma cried out. She knew if she allowed Regina to touch her, she would become weak and give in. She could allow that.

"Emma, please. Don't go. I'm sorry."

"This is torturous, Regina. We will only hurt each other and force our children to witness it. I can't do that."

"Moms," Henry interrupted them from the stairs.

He had been there for quite some time now, and had red, puffy eyes that showed just how much it damaged a child to see their parents fighting.

"You're bleeding. Both of you," Henry told them.

They had been so involved in their argument that they didn't notice what was happening to their bodies.

"No…"

Regina transported them with magic to the hospital and the emergency crew quickly received them. They ran some blood tests and checked in the ultrasound, but there were no signs of physical damage, only Emma's anemia, so they had to recur to a practice that was more invasive, to look for clearer answers.

After a couple of hours and having stabilized them, Dr. Whale came from his private lab to see them.

"Your pregnancies are quite interesting," The doctor told them.

"What do you mean?" Regina asked worriedly.

"We've had couples like you before try, but it's very rare to have both women achieve successful inseminations that make them pregnant at the same time. I assume you two recurred to magic to make it happen?"

"What?" Emma was confused.

"Wasn't this… planned?" Dr. Whale looked at them curiously. "I see. Well, I guess it was a lucky shot then; a double shot, I would say, because you're both six weeks pregnant. And for the looks of it, you might be having _twins."_ He raised an eyebrow as he scratched his head trying to make any sense of this absurdity.

_What utter non-sense,_ doctors from outside of Storybrooke would tell him and take his license right away.

"And there's an _extra_ chromosome in your products that we had only seen before once— twice —in our hospital. In your little brother, Emma, and in Henry. I would dare say it's the gene for magic, because now that we have both your samples of blood and of your amniotic fluid, we can almost be certain."

"But how does that make ours_ twins_? This makes no sense," Emma asked.

"More importantly, how come you made an amniocentesis at this early stage?" Regina asked angrily, already feeling very suspicious of his practice.

"Big dangers call for drastic measures," Dr. Frankenstein deflected, "and this gene I found, it has a sparkle," he said excitedly. "I know. Sounds ridiculous. But this is magic we're talking about," He turned to Emma.

"Your brother, Neal, had a pattern, and I've compared it to your blood sample, and while you both share some similarities—more than those you have with Henry's, there are also some differences. But in the case of your pregnancies," he looked at both women now, "your products share the same exact pattern, and even _twinkle_ at the same time. They're like mirrors of one another— to put it some way," he was passionate about the subject. For the first time in decades, he actually felt he could enjoy this job again.

"Are you sure you didn't take the drugs that were meant to be given to us, Doc, because you're having a bad trip," Emma said to him.

"I'm not high, Emma. Magic is mysterious, but I will soon be able to decode it. I'm just a scientist making new discoveries," he said too solemnly.

"Okay…" Emma mumbled.

"Well, you better not have put our babies in a bigger risk, Viktor. We're not your lab mice, but you might become one if you dare again," Regina threatened him.

"I would _never,_" he evaded her eyes. "So... Congratulations to the both of you. You will be cleared to leave tomorrow, and I expect you to come for check-ups every two weeks, as these are no ordinary pregnancies."

"Thank you, doctor," Regina said to him and watched him leave.

"Love, do you know what this means?" Emma asked her.

"Yes…" Regina said calmly.

"They're ours, like, _really_ ours. Wow."

But Regina's mind was in a different scene this moment.

"We said so many hurtful things based on wrong assumptions," Regina said sadly. "Actually, not all of them were wrong, but we did hurt each other and I don't want that to happen ever again."

"Me neither, Regina."

"Are you still set in mind to leave me? Because I won't stop you if that's what you find healthiest, Emma."

"No. NO. You were right. I run away when things become serious, but I don't want to be like that anymore. I can't go back to being the person I was before Storybrooke. I need my family. I need you. I can't lose you."

Regina smiled and told Emma they should try to get some rest. David had come pick Henry up from the waiting room and took him home.

* * *

At the Charming's, they were relieved things hadn't ended badly, and were really stunned at the news. Mary Margaret couldn't believe she would be a grandmother again and that it would be _twice_ the thrill.

She had a big smile in her face and already wanted to start knitting blankets for the babies.

_But which color? _ Wow, this was really exciting.

"I vote white," Henry said to his grandmother.

"Gender neutral, like Emma's," David said after him.

"There's only one little problem… I don't know how to knit," Snow remembered. "It was Granny who made Emma's baby blanket."

"She could teach you," David said to her.

"Or teach _you_," Snow glared at him. "Yes! That's what we'll do. You and I both are going to knit those cozy blankets for our new grandchildren."

"What?" David looked at her like she had a potato in her forehead.

"It's decided," Mary Margaret clapped her hands.

"Little help here, grandson," David turned to Henry.

"Don't look at me, gramps. This is your fight."

"Darn… I just hope it doesn't damage my manicure," David winked at his wife, playfully.

Mary Margaret smiled at him.

* * *

**Author's Note:** As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. Let me know what you liked most? Have a nice day!


	4. Chapter 4

HEYA! I got a funny review on the first chapter that said I sounded like Yoda, and it made me giggle because I had a friend that used to call me that because of my way of speaking. English is not my first language and I don't live in an english-speaking country where to practice on a daily basis, which is why sometimes I have confusion when building sentences, so just be patient with me.

Anyway, it's been a while since I last updated and I need to make some notes: 1) Remind you that I chose for Belle to have brown eyes like in the Disney version. 2) I might recur to some of what happens in season 4b as it airs, but it won't precisely follow its timeline or story—just aspects that I find fit. 3) Mario/Maria/Mar is a strange addition, I understand, and my purpose is to practice the use of gender-neutral pronouns (Zie, Hir, Hirs) and the inclusion of a character that does not abide to the norm, because gender stereotyping is not so good. I might commit mistakes as this is new to me, too, so I ask you to be patient. 4) I chose for Snow/David to be supportive because Emma has suffered enough, and having her parents confront her is not something I want or need. I want to stay on the bright side of the rainbow! Angst might come from somewhere else… or not at all. We shall see.

* * *

**A DOUBLE SHOT AT LOVE**  
**Chapter 4**

* * *

The drive home had been very quiet; both women felt the burden of their argument from the night before, and neither Emma nor Regina would speak, making the ambient in the cabin feel so thick you might be able to cut through it. David only asked about how they were feeling, and refrained from talking more than was necessary and just took them home. They had to solve this on their own.

In the Mills residence, Emma prepared for a warm bath. Spending the night in the hospital had been dreadful, and now that they were home, they felt like they could finally relax and try to find some normality in their lives.

She was fixing the water when Regina came to speak to her.

"Emma, I'm sorry," she said as her hands went to rest on her stomach—like they would always do when she felt anxious. "About yesterday. I didn't mean—"

"It's fine. Regina, I get it," Emma smiled warmly at her.

"No, it's not. I was very harsh and hurt you. I channeled my loathe for Hook against you and I can't forgive myself for putting our baby—babies in harm's way." Regina told her and a couple of tears rolled down the sides of her face.

Emma, at seeing the pain in Regina's face and feeling her own, walked to the entrance of the bathroom—where the brunette had been standing for some minutes now, unsure if she even deserved to be near Emma after all what happened.

"You never liked him." Emma chuckled lightly. "But it's okay now. I'm with you, and always will be," she told her softly as gentle thumbs went to brush away the tears from Regina's eyes. "Let's put this behind us, Regina. I forgive you." She kissed her eyelids gently. "Can you do me a favor and do the same?" Emma cradled her face in her hands and looked into dark brown eyes lovingly, offering a kind smile.

"I… I'll try. I will." Regina offered a half-hearted smile and Emma had to kiss her. She looked so small and defenseless it would be hard for anyone who wasn't Emma to recognize this was the same woman that could rip out hearts and crush them to dust if she so wanted.

"Good," Emma smiled into their kiss. "Can I request one more thing?" The blonde asked innocently as her hands went to tease the buttons of Regina's blouse.

"Mmm… I wonder." Regina's eyes recovered some of their mischievous spark they would always have when Emma began seducing her.

"Join me? You know _how hard_ it is to reach one's back… to _lather_ it all up."

Green eyes looked playfully at Regina and the brunette had to bite her lower lip when Emma's fingers began unbuttoning her blouse to slowly undress her.

"Indeed I do. I must help you get properly _cleaned._"

Regina pulled Emma into her arms and kissed her passionately, feeling her body almost burst into flames—hormones—the kind she welcomed better than those which made her have a blue mood every so often. Oh yes, these were much better, and Emma felt the same way.

When Henry got home, his mothers had already made-up, and were even more mellow then their usual, which was now on a diabetic level: too damn sweet, and he rolled his eyes whenever the love birds would exchange _a look,_ or touch the other when she walked close by while setting the table for dinner.

_Could they be any less obvious? _

While he was getting used to it, it was still something new. Regina had raised him on her own; there was no a partner by her side ever, and she never displayed such affectionate manners towards anyone else—aside of him, but this was, again, different._ Adult things._

During the weeks that followed, Snow asked Regina to take over the Magister office.

Running Storybrooke was too different from running the White Kingdom, and baby Neal had become more attached to his mother and was awake much longer, more active, making it harder to be in the office with her son with her. She couldn't raise Emma and she didn't want to lose any minute with this new baby, so she decided to step down and let Regina do what she did best: be the Mayor.

Regina was in her element again. Those months away had allowed her to rest. She had, after-all, been behind that desk for twenty-eight years without a break, and her vacations did her well—but only for so long. She wasn't precisely a 'stay at home' mom, and missed her precious, elegant office. So when she was back and unpacking her stuff, the first thing she remembered to do was burn that hideous frame with a blue bird that Mary Margaret had hung on her wall to make the office _more inviting_, to add a _splash_ of color to her black and white décor.

It felt so good to burn that blue robin bird down to ashes, it was almost as good as the day she believed she had set Snow White on fire at the stake, but the clever bandit had used dark fairy dust to turn into a bug and escape. Well, she was now thankful Snow lived to tell the tale because she got, in return, something much better than her vengeance; she got Emma and Henry. It was hard to believe the two persons she loved most, came from the two idiots that started it all.

"Woah. Was that absolutely necessary?" Emma had asked her when she entered the office and saw the last flames burning, and helped Regina clean the ashes from the floor.

They put back a dragonfly picture Regina had previously had in that same spot, and Emma couldn't help but smile. Regina was fun in her own pyromaniac way, and then she felt it—a movement in her stomach—and Regina looked at her at the same time.

"Did you feel that?" The blonde asked first.

"Yes. Did you, too?" Regina asked in surprise. She walked toward the Sheriff and put her hand over Emma's stomach, just as the blonde brought a hand to lay on Regina's belly.

A gentle kick, on each.

Regina's eyes welled-up with tears and Emma embraced her. This was new for Regina, she had always dreamed to feel life growing inside her, but had not until now had this dream realize and it was marvelous, frightening, but beautiful. A true miracle.

"It looks like our babies like you burning things," the blonde said smiling, but quickly became worried. "Oh my God. What if they turn to be pyromaniac like you?" She blurted.

"Excuse me?" Regina scowled.

"Well, yeah… You kind of… enjoy setting things on fire." Emma knit her brow and tried to look away from Regina's look of disapproval.

"That picture frame was hideous. I gave it a honorable death." Regina said proudly. "And I don't burn things on a daily basis."

Emma nodded hear head and went to the desk, she turned the page on Regina's agenda and pointed at the day. "We're gonna be late for our appointment," the blonde tried to deflect the conversation.

Regina shook her head and let out a deep sigh. "We won't," she responded and threw her keys for Emma to catch them. "You drive."

The check-up went as usual, and Regina was pleased that Dr. Whale would always set up for two beds and ultra-sound machines to be side to side so they could see their babies at the same time. _Royalty treatment for the royal couple._ He knew if he wanted to continue learning about inherited magic, he had to do everything Regina demanded from him. Their appointments had been farther in between than his requested two weeks span, as Regina decided against it, and Viktor – again – had to give up and not insist. They would come just as any other normal pregnant woman did. _Normal… They were nothing like the sort._

Viktor didn't find much from his investigation after the first discovery. But he did, however, learn that the gene for magic wasn't as uncommon in the people from the fairy tale land as he had thought. But it was mostly dormant, inactive; a sleeping gene that was passed around to offspring. _How it was made active_—that was his next question.

_True Love?_ That was the first hypothesis. But what made true love be True Love? It couldn't be such a rare find, and some people who wielded magic, hadn't been products of True Love. There were always more questions than answers, and neither Regina nor Emma were there to give him answers. All they wanted was to ensure their babies were healthy.

"So you've felt the first kicks. That's to be expected from week fifteen, to as late as the twenty-fifth for a first time mother." The doctor informed them. "You're on your nineteenth week, we could try to see the gender of your children, if you wish."

"Yes," Regina responded. But at the same time, Emma had mouthed a loud "No."

"What?" Regina looked at Emma with confusion. "Why?"

"I want it to be a surprise…" Emma answered innocently.

"But I'd like to know so we can paint the room accordingly, buy clothes, and have everything ready when they come, Emma."

"What? That's not… They don't need anything in special, love. Just normal baby stuff."

"Should I give you a moment to decide?" Dr. Whale interrupted them.

"That won't be necessary, doctor. I'm pretty sure they're female." Regina responded.

"Given that there was no presence of male chromosomes, your deduction is most likely correct. But since this is magic at play, it wouldn't be un-wise to make sure." Viktor told her, looked at her and then at Emma.

Regina didn't want to look at Emma but she had to, and there it was. _Her puppy eyes attack._ Regina couldn't win against those beautiful green eyes that looked at her with such tenderness and _victimizing. Damn it, Emma._ Yes, she had her wrapped around her finger.

"I suppose we will find out in due time. Thank you for your service, Dr. Whale."

They went to pick up Henry at school and he asked them to let him hang out with his friends and they gave him permission. He was growing fast and really making friends now that people no longer feared his brunette mother.

He spent more time out and about than he did with them, and it was okay. He was a teenager and needed his space, and his grades were decent, though Regina believed he could do better, but Emma would come ask her not to add more pressure on him than needed. _He would do fine, life wasn't all about A's_ — she would tell her.

"Look at me. I'm Sheriff and I married the Mayor," Emma teased her and Regina frowned.

"When did that happen?" The brunette asked her. "I don't recall being invited to my own wedding," the brunette quirked an eyebrow.

_Shit,_ Emma mentally cursed. She should've thought before speaking. "Well… I…" Emma didn't know what to say next.

That was a huge step.

Well, they already had a kid—soon to be three, but, still, _marriage?!_ The idea scared her. She did want to spend the rest of her life with Regina—she just never thought about a wedding, about these social constructions that made life more complicated than needed—not to mention expensive.

She had never considered if Regina thought the same way.

She had never mentioned the subject before, Emma assumed she was like her; she needn't prove anything to anyone with _a big ass party_. But maybe Regina did want to have a ceremony in symbol of their union, to exchange vows and make a promise she would keep _'till death do us apart;_ to give a deeper meaning and holiness to their bond; celebrate their very well deserved happy ending.

"I can see I just launched you to the precipice, dear." Regina commented after seeing Emma's face of torment and deep thought. "It was a joke," the brunette chuckled it off.

"Well, you got me." Emma smiled nervously as she went to join her partner in bed.

Regina was back to reading and just side-glanced her.

"That I did. Let's get some rest. Tomorrow is the spring festival and we'll have a long day," Regina told her. She put her book down on the nightstand and turned her side lamp off.

"Good night, Ms. Swan." The brunette said playfully, but it didn't quite come out as intended.

"What? No kiss?" Emma's bells went alert.

"Of course. Come here, Sheriff." Regina turned to Emma's side and beckoned her to come closer. "It's an order," she was more playful now and Emma kissed her. Her hand soon found its way up to a tender breast and Regina had to break the kiss.

"Not tonight. I need my beauty sleep, Emma, and they are still extra-sensitive."

Regina pressed a last kiss to Emma's lips and turned her back to her to sleep.

* * *

In the downtown plaza, a lot of people were working. Shop owners were setting up their small businesses to sell or sort of things; from cotton candy to non-dripping candles, and the small town felt more vivid and much bigger with all the movement happening in the heart of Storybrooke.

Granny had put her own little food truck where Ruby and Mar—as zie finally decided to stick to just one name, and neutral pronouns—would be working. They would be selling cupcakes this time, and all they had to do was frost them to order, so it was quite easy and fast.

Mar had been encouraging Ruby all this long to continue seeking Belle's friendship, and made sure the werewolf kept hir up to date on their "strictly friendly," #no homo dates.

Ruby had been more frequent in the library, and even asked Granny to cut her working days so she could have the whole weekend free—because of Saturdays, as the library didn't open on Sunday, and Ruby had not many excuses to keep asking Belle out. She didn't want to force herself on her _every _Sunday, so she volunteered to help her during Saturdays in the library. Spending time together felt just… right.

The first two months had been the toughest for Belle after her break-up with Rumple, but having Ruby keep her company made it better. She didn't feel as lonesome and it felt nice to have some help in the library—not like there was crazy movement there, but it just felt good. It felt right to have Ruby around; she was a good friend.

As time continued to move on, so did Belle, and the day came when she made a big decision.

She had finished dressing up to go work when she looked at her hand. She looked for a good minute and then decided what she would be doing; she pulled out her wedding ring and placed it in a small box—the same in which Rumple had given it to her; a wooden jewelry box with an intricate rose, carved in masterful handcraft that could only have come from Ghepetto's shop.

"Goodbye, Rumple," she said with a breaking voice and took a moment to let her last tears for Rumplestiltskin pour out; she had to let him out of her system completely.

It was hard to believe it would soon be five months since his departure—since she banished him to the land with no magic. It was a long time, but she still had nightmares in which he was back somehow, begging her for a second chance, but just to lie to her again and hurt the people she cared about; her father... and Ruby.

Ruby always jumped to protect her—not Ruby, the Wolf—but no one would ever match the Dark One's power and the result was always the same: death. Belle couldn't go back to sleep after that haunting dream, and it kept her from allowing herself to open up to… to getting closer to her new friends. She'd met Mar, and she was good friends with one of the dwarves, sleepy, even when he would mostly go to the library just to sleep and drool over her precious books.

Hook had even tried to get close to her, few weeks after Emma broke-up with him outside the station, and when he soon found he wasn't as irresistible as he thought, he kept on insisting. He liked _challenges;_ women who refused his advances, and Belle had been one of the few who said no, along Tinkerbell and Emma. She was another conquest.

He had other women, girls who liked him for his looks, but this didn't seem to fulfill him—he just had to push on the women who didn't want him, until Belle showed him a restraint order, and the Sheriff (Emma) told him sharply he only had two choices: to either respect her, or leave Storybrooke to never come back.

Regina had given him a different set of choices at the time: respect or die—off the record, but it had kept him well away from Emma. But Belle didn't have someone like Regina (anymore), nor would she reach such heights, so she had recurred to the police to request that restraining order.

Still, on a heavily drunk evening, Hook committed the mistake of following Belle outside the library after closing. He followed her for a long distance until they crossed the street and, him being so drunk, didn't realize the smart woman had walked them right into the station, and Emma was baffled.

"Really?" Was all Emma could say, and David came to handcuff the bastard and put him on the back of the patrol, drove him to the edge of town, and pushed him to cross the line.

"Let's see if you can pay with doubloons out there, pirate." David told him, remembering how Hook had called him _old-fashioned, even by his standards_, when he told him Emma was not some conquest.

That was the last of Hook they would ever see.

* * *

The festival would officially start at noon and everyone was hurried to have everything ready. There would be a small but quaint parade with some cars embellished with flowers to allure to spring time, and in the gazebo would be the small orchestra from Henry's school, where children would be playing some music—Henry would be playing the viola—to harmonize the event.

Everything was so normal, it made Emma doubt she was in Storybrooke. She would be watching order in the event to prevent theft, or naughty lost boys from vandalizing public property. Regina had a speech to give, but she was a master at her craft and didn't need practice, so she was mostly there to arrange for everything to appear perfect.

Snow carried her baby in the stroller and was looking at all the tent shops to see what she would be buying, and decided to take home a small candleholder that had a crowned swan etched on the crystal. It was very pretty and it reminded her of Emma, and, curiously, of Regina as well. It was a nice motif to have in her place; a symbol of the light that lit Regina's darkened heart to love again. Emma's.

_Who would have thought the Savior hadn't come to destroy the Evil Queen, but rather, to fight alongside with her to deter the evil in her heart and find light again; love, and have a complete family with their son?_ Certainly never Snow, but she wouldn't have it any differently. Perhaps some things were just meant to be, and her daughter was truly happy with the Queen—Snow was sure of that.

The festival was lively and seeing the kindergarten children dance dressed up as little animals, flowers, and fruits and veggies, made their hearts swell. Snow could imagine baby Neal dressed-up as a lovely carrot; Regina was reminded of small Henry when he participated in those plays and it made her smile brightly, but for Emma this was a new experience and she couldn't avoid tearing. She was emotional but happy she would be able to build all these real memories with their babies some day soon.

Belle went up to Granny's food truck and greeted Mar, who beamed at her, and told her Ruby would be right there to attend her, because zie had to frost a dozen cupcakes for the fairy nuns that wanted blueberry.

"Oh, hey, you!" Ruby smiled widely when she looked at the beauty. "You put up a shop, too?" She asked her.

"No. I wanted to enjoy the festival, and I couldn't be complete without a lemon poppy seed cupcake, if you have any left." Belle smiled somewhat shyly at her.

"Let me check!" The werewolf told her and went to look. "Looks like it's your lucky day, we only had one left," she went and gave it to Belle. "My treat," she winked at the other woman and Belle's cheeks turned a pretty rosy.

"Why, thank you," Belle made a curtsy and Mar rolled hir eyes at them—_so effing cute and adorkable._

"Okay, those were the last! It looks like we're done early, Rubes." Mar said to Ruby. "I will clean up and drive this baby home. Go have some fun, girls!—I know_ I will_, but not here. My babe said she had a surprise for me if I got home early," zie moved hir eyebrows suggestively.

"Well, ooookay. We didn't need to know, geez." Ruby grumbled and Belle was chuckling behind her lemon cupcake.

"You have some… frosting on your face," Ruby informed her, pointing with a finger.

"What, where?" The other woman tried to get it with the tip of her tongue and it made Ruby laugh.

Belle blushed when she realized how silly she was looking, but even more when Ruby came closer and wiped the frosting off the corner of her lip with a finger and licked it off her fingertip before thinking. She used to tease men like this, but she had never done with a girl, and it wasn't actually on purpose—she just did out of refelx and turned just as red as the beautiful rose standing a mere distance from her.

"Uh… sorry. Old habits…" The werewolf averted her eyes and looked around her in total embarrassment.

"It's alright, silly." Belle smiled shyly, but even if both women wanted to behave like it was nothing, they couldn't.

"So… maybe I should head back to the truck—help Mar finish." Ruby said, but then they heard Mar yell at them. "I got this," and the next thing they heard was the roar of the engine of that old truck.

"M'kay…" Ruby looked at Belle, but at the same time tried not to.

"You worked all morning, why don't you let me treat you something? You want to go try the… chimichangas?" Belle asked her and Ruby couldn't help but chortle at her lovely accent.

"What now?" Belle asked her somewhat embarrassed. "You laughing at my accent? Again?"

But Ruby couldn't answer, and the other woman had to add some lemon frosting to her mocking face to make things even.

"O.M.G. You just frosted me!" Ruby pretended to be offended and started walking dangerously towards the auburn-haired beauty. "You will pay for this," she said in a deep, lower tone of voice. "Run if you know what's good for you."

Belle started running. It was silly, but she couldn't help it, and Ruby allowed her to gain some distance because, whatever distance that might be, she would be fast behind her step anyway.

"Run, run all you want, but you can never escape the beast." Ruby yelled behind her, she howled and then started chasing her.

Belle ran and didn't realize they had moved away from the festival until she stopped to see she'd made it to the park, and then she felt something literally sweep her off her feet and roll on the grass, landing with Ruby atop her, her eyes glimmering with the iridescence of the Wolf.

"Gotcha." Ruby pinned her down and her animal instinct didn't let her prevent her next action; she leaned closer to Belle's face and inhaled her sweet perfumed scent. "Beautiful in every way."

"Do you really believe that?" Belle asked her, feeling a new shade of red tint her face.

Ruby snapped out of it and shook her head, but when she was about to hop off Belle, the other girl cupped her face. There was no fear in light brown eyes, there was something else… and Ruby felt her heart beat as though the wolf was fighting to escape the jail that was her ribcage.

"I… I…" Ruby was unable to respond, but the look in her eyes was a clear answer.

Belle pulled her closer gently and their lips met in a kiss that was petal soft, but it punctured Ruby's heart like a sharp thorn, and she knew she would bleed out if this were only to happen once between them, if this had been a mistake.

"Belle…" The younger woman tried to break the kiss but she couldn't; her body had a different desire and, instead, pressed stronger, indulging in the reciprocity of their kiss.

The sun was warm over their skin and the wind blew softly, the lush grass offered cushion and it was just a perfect spring day, made all the more beautiful with this kiss.

After a minute of kisses and tender touches, they broke it and lay side by side. They were the only people in the park because of the festival and only the blue sky was witness of the blooming of this love between them.

"All that time, I had been with the wrong Beast." Belle said softly and it made Ruby smile and blush. She laced her fingers with Ruby's and loved how it felt to touch her like this. It was innocent, and it was very completing.

"Is this real?" Ruby had problems believing she wasn't daydreaming. "Do you mean that?"

"Yes." The other girl replied as they looked into each other's eyes deeply.

"I love you, my red rose of beauty," Ruby confessed finally and brought Belle's hand to her lips to kiss it gently.

"And I you, my lemony frosted beast."

They smiled at each other and shared another kiss, and Beauty and the Beast began living a happier fairy tale.


	5. Chapter 5

Finally! The holy gay spirit came to me speaking words of lesbo and I listened and updated this magical!pregnancy ficlet. I do hope you'll enjoy it. :) Smut ensues...

* * *

The festival had been a success, as had been in the past before Emma arrived in town and everything became a big mess with the curse shattering around them.

They hadn't had any festivities after Miners' day, two years ago, because of all the villains that surfaced after Regina's curse had been broken; Rumplestiltskin bringing magic, the Office, Peter Pan, going back to the Enchanted Forest, the Wicked Witch, the Snow Queen—they had _really_ had _no_ rest—and missed this world and its festivities more than what they'd missed their old fairytale lives upon waking up from their twenty-eight year long impasse that at moments felt like _a dream come true_ for some of them.

When you put everything in perspective, _living under Regina's curse wasn't so bad; _many of the townspeople shared this new sentiment, and had grown to accept Regina—growing _fond_ of her was maybe too much asking, but there certainly was a new type of respect everyone had for her, born out of something other than fear.

When Emma, Regina, and Henry got back home in the afternoon, they felt dead-tired. The little family went to the living room to turn on the T.V. with the intention to watch a movie together, but what they did instead was inevitably fall asleep on the couch with the T.V. on.

Henry was laying his head over the armrest, and his shoe-less feet were over the cushion; Regina's head was on Emma's chest, she was inside her embrace, and Emma's chin was now resting over Regina's head in their uncomfortable, but favorite position when watching television together.

Emma had showed Regina how to use netflix and made her quite a big fan of Xena, and they would fight over whom of them was the warrior princess. Emma would insist _she _was Xena, and Regina was Gabrielle, but Regina disagreed passionately and insisted it was the other way around. It was really fun for Emma to rile-up Regina with this, and only made it to tease her, as their bickering always ended in tickles, kisses, and some times _more._

* * *

(Flashback: week 13)

"Make-up sex with you is worth getting a hundred fireballs thrown at my ass," Emma told Regina as she was being pinned down in bed, and Regina smiled mischievously as she held her tightly onto the mattress, looking deep into green eyes with burning desire.

"You only say that because I don't actually make them with the intention to hurt you," Regina responded before claiming rosy lips in a passionate kiss that could be enough to make anyone come undone without even stripping out of their clothes.

"If I had known you were this passionate after an argument, I would have confessed my intentions with you the second day of my arrival in Storybrooke," Emma told Regina. "Hell, if you hadn't kicked me out so fast, I would've scored with you that same night."

"Really? Are you telling me it was love at first sight, dear?" Regina chortled.

"As much as it was for you, you know," Emma raised a cocky eyebrow.

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Sheriff, but I didn't fall in love at first sight with you," Regina said coolly, but the smile on her lips and glint in her eyes suggested a different story.

"Lie to me all you want, but you know I'll know the truth. Your eyes can deceive others but never mine," Emma lifted her face to steal a kiss from the woman above her. "I have my Regina senses, don't forget."

"Well, I wouldn't call it _love at first sight._ More like fatal attraction, dear," Regina grinned.

"Hmm… That's pretty accurate. I thought you would be the death of me, but I didn't imagine it might _actually _walk on the literal sense of the saying," Emma's brow furrowed. "You were quite difficult, to say the least. But now, where we are, I wouldn't change a thing because you were worth it. _This_ is worth it." Green eyes gazed into brown deeply.

"What are your 'Regina senses' telling you this moment, _Miss Swan_?" Regina asked in a sensual voice and then brushed her lips ever so lightly over Emma's, but didn't kiss her.

Emma rolled them over and now it was _her_ pinning Regina down in bed. "That I should to _fuck_ you from dusk 'till dawn."

"Oh, really," Regina teased her. "Is that what my eyes told you?"

Emma's right hand moved down to slip inside Regina's underwear and quickly confirmed.

"Yes," Emma answered proudly.

She brought her hand back from inside Regina's panties and into her mouth to lick her fingers, which were moistened with her juices, and Regina's eyes almost glowed with magic at the arousing image while Emma moaned as she cleaned them one by one.

"You make me so hot, it's not even funny," Emma whispered in Regina's ear.

"It's the pregnancy. I've read it alters hormones and—" Regina was speaking when a desperate kiss made her hush.

"Oh shut-up. It's not the pregnancy; I've always felt like this with you. You're more addicting than you believe, and my thirst for you can only be quenched if I drink directly from the source of my despair: _you._"

Emma left Regina speechless for a moment, until she made her moan when she moved to the hot, wet place in between her legs to taste her from over damp underwear.

"Vanish these, please. I want you bare," Emma pleaded, and Regina made her lingerie disappear.

Emma indulged in the nectar of her true love's arousal, and Regina was so sensitive, it wouldn't take much effort to make her climax. A pink tongue teased the small bud of Regina's clit, and two confident fingers slowly penetrated her, twisting and pushing against that spot that made Regina lose control over her body and quiver under Emma's stimulation.

Emma knew Regina's body like the palm of her hand now, and knew just where, when, and how to touch her to make her orgasm come like a wave crashing through her body, unrelenting.

Regina's legs clamped Emma inside as her orgasm came, and the blonde gently retrieved her fingers and replaced them with her tongue, going as deep as it could to savor the prize of her achievement.

"Come here, you idiot," Regina's voice was raspy, and her breathing was still agitated.

Emma went to her embrace and kissed her mouth without the innocence of their first smooches; their tongues played with each other, and Regina could taste herself in Emma's mouth, and it was so very sensual. She wanted to taste Emma but she knew the sheriff was in a dominant mood that night and would continue making her come until the sun rose in their window, or until they fell asleep wrapped in each other's body—and it was perfect.

* * *

(Present: week 19)

Regina was the first one to wake up from their afternoon nap. Her body was hurting from the position, and she did her best not to wake up the others as she parted from her lover's embrace, but Emma immediately wrapped her arms around her waist—now wider—and pulled her to sit over her lap.

"Where do you think you're going?" Emma's voice was still gritty.

Her hands went to caress Regina's thighs under the dress, her chin nestled on Regina's shoulder, and Emma spoke behind her ear. "You smell so nice," she began kissing her neck.

"Emma, we have company," Regina muttered and pointed at their sleeping son.

"He's asleep, and when he's snoring like an ogre," Emma signaled when the kid snored, "there's nothing that can wake him."

"Still. Behave," Regina tried to stand again but Emma pulled her down once more.

"Noooo… don't leave me. I feel cold without you in my arms," the blonde whined.

"It's summer," Regina rolled her eyes. "And what are you, three? I need to make dinner."

"I'll have _you_ for dinner…" Emma raised both eyebrows playfully.

"Emma," Regina muttered. "You can have _me_ for _dessert_, but our son needs actual nourishment."

"Ugh… right. In that case, I will help. To cut the time shorter…" the sheriff kissed her neck once again before loosening her grip. "I guess I'll make the salad."

"Thank you."

Regina went to the kitchen and Emma followed behind her, and when the blonde went to pull some of the vegetables from the bottom of the fridge, Regina stood behind her, gawking at her nice ass in those modern pregnancy leggings Emma had bought online.

Emma was leaning down when she felt the presence behind her and hands come to her hips. She rose and pressed her body against Regina, feeling that precious bump behind her back that was not much bigger than her own belly.

"Coleslaw, or do you prefer cesar?" Emma asked as she grinded lightly against Regina, holding a small cabbage in one hand, and a lettuce in the other.

"Fuck salad. Let's order pizza and go upstairs," Regina kissed Emma's neck, and her hands went to cradle the blonde's belly.

"Are you suggesting we should have a _quickie_, madam mayor?" Emma teased her as she closed the fridge.

"I'm suggesting exactly that."

A swirl of purple smoke engulfed them and brought them to the bedroom.

Regina was kissing Emma with _hunger,_ and the blonde chuckled lightly, thoroughly enjoying how much her partner desired her, but had to break the steamy kiss to make the call to Valentino's Pizza; a new business that had recently opened in what was once 'Any given sundae' after the Snow Queen was gone, and the local was made available for rent.

Regina's hands never left Emma's hips during the time she'd been making their order, and kept kissing her neck gently, giving her a _really_ hard time with trying to keep herself from moaning into the phone until she was over with the call.

_Devious minx._

Emma turned to face the mayor again and Regina spared no time in ridding Emma of her black tank top, leaving her in her bra.

Regina cupped Emma's breasts, which were noticeably bigger now, and fondled them through the soft fabric, making the blonde moan softly. Red lips kissed the creamy white skin of Emma's shoulder, and continued moving down to kiss the valley of her breasts.

Emma tilted back her head, eyes closed in enjoyment, and Regina went to kiss her pulse point, as her hands now rid Emma of that bra. Delicate hands then moved down to push the stretchy band of the prenatal leggings down, and Regina knelt to finish removing those tight look-a-like jeggings.

Emma was down to her panties and needed to make the game _even,_ but she had a different idea. A swirl of silvery-white magic then made Regina's clothing vanish, and the blonde was very proud at her improved skills.

"I've been practicing this trick for this specifically," Emma winked and grinned proudly.

"Magic always comes with a price," Regina playfully reminded her with a spank on the butt.

"Mmm… Then make me pay for it," Emma said sensually.

She pulled Regina to her body in a quick movement and when their bellies bumped against each other, the sensuality turned into throaty laughter.

_So much for playing Don Juan,_ Emma thought.

"That was more erotic in my head, to be honest," Emma chortled.

"Oh, Emma," Regina couldn't stop chuckling.

"Hey! Stop laughing at me," Emma felt her cheeks turn rosy. "I was trying to seduce you."

"Yes," Regina kissed her, and her hands went to take hers. "Come here, my love," she guided Emma to bed, and gently pushed her so she sat on the edge of the mattress.

Regina's hands cradled Emma's chin as she leaned down to kiss her sweetly in the beginning, but then her tongue sought entrance to her mouth and Emma parted her lips to allow it. Regina's hands moved from Emma's face to her shoulders, then slid down her toned arms, and slowly went to caress firm thighs, gently moving them to separate them.

Emma felt a tingling sensation in that warm, humid place between her legs as she spread them open, and Regina kissed her more deeply. The brunette then pushed her gently to lay on her back, as she knelt on one knee by the bed to level her head with Emma's aching center.

"You shall be my dinner, as I your dessert later," the mayor said before bringing her mouth to taste Emma. A long leg remained on the edge of bed, as the other drooped beside Regina, and Emma's body was writhing in no time.

It didn't take too much time to make Emma orgasm, as she had been aching to have intimacy with her woman for days, actually weeks, but the moment just hadn't come. So when Emma finally felt that tongue and those fingers move inside her, it was like magic on its own, and she came so loudly all of the neighborhood would have heard her, hadn't Regina been cautious to project the spell that enclosed the sound in their bedroom.

Emma's moans, groans, and screams of pleasure were only for her personal enjoyment. That, and the fact they didn't want to scar their son for life, because they could get pretty loud some nights.

_Why hold back? _They didn't have to, _thank magic._

The doorbell rang and Henry went to open. He had awoken just a few minutes ago, and woke up to find the T.V. was still on, and Batman (The Dark Knight Rises) was playing—one of his favorite.

He noticed there was money over one of the small tables in the foyer, and when he saw through the peephole it was the pizza guy at the other side of the door, his eyes finished opening _fully,_ and was no more sleepy.

_Awesome!_

"I'll get the pizza," he yelled from below the stairs, and Regina removed the spell.

"Be there in a minute, Henry. Thank you!" Emma yelled back.

"I hate it when you two do that. Yelling from room to room, or the stairs," Regina grumbled.

"Pardon me, your Majesty. I promise such an offense shan't repeat," Emma teased her.

"It always does," Regina rolled her eyes.

"Well, yeah… But my Queen is most merciful, and spares this simple fool each time," Emma showed a toothy grin.

"Stop talking like that, Emma," Regina said as her arms wrapped around her neck.

"I love you," Emma beamed at her, and kissed her lips tenderly.

"And I love you, too."

And in a swirl of purple smoke both women were dressed again—all freshened up.

* * *

The following weeks were without any special events, aside of their usual visits to the hospital so they could see the development of their twins.

Everything was normal—as far as _normal_ a 'magical' pregnancy could be—and they were happy that Emma's anemia had been solved quickly with the vitamins, and her going back to eating the bear claws she so much missed.

Her body was used to the high calorie diet because she was much more active, and she had only been fooling herself to think her needs were the same as Regina's—they clearly weren't. Regina could live on kale salads, but Emma needed her grilled cheese. Everyone is different.

It was hard to believe they were thirty-two weeks pregnant already, and even more shocking that they had been _an official couple_ for this long—at least to Emma, because she'd never had a relationship last so long. Not even with Henry's biological father, but with Regina it just felt right; it felt it was the most natural thing, because nobody could understand each other the way they both did, and no one could ever complement the other the way Regina and Emma did. They were two sides of the same coin.

Next weekend they would be having their baby shower at Granny's, and Regina felt stressed that Mary Margaret didn't allow her to be stressed about the party. The younger woman had everything planned for them, and she had David working his ass off buying the baby themed supplies, and helping her build the banners, and centerpieces for the tables to decorate the small eatery for their celebration.

They couldn't celebrate Emma's first pregnancy, so they certainly wouldn't be missing the chance to make of the second a memorable event, and it was also in honor of Regina.

_How many people could celebrate a double magical pregnancy?_ Well, actually nobody.

Ruby and Belle had also been helping during their free time, and it made Belle feel emotional. She had always wanted a baby, and seeing Emma and Regina be able to create life together gave her so much hope, but she didn't know—and didn't dare ask—if Ruby felt the same way about having a family, or about settling down—about marriage at all—to be honest.

_Wait. Was she thinking about marriage already?_ They'd been dating for only two months.

It was the happy day, a sunny Sunday in summer, and Emma and Regina were at Granny's half an hour earlier, as Regina insisted. But Snow had already imagined it would be like that, since Regina kept insisting she should help with something—anything—as it was their babies the ones they were celebrating, but it was all just an excuse to exercise her control compulsion, and Mary Margaret was not having any of it. This was _her_ party.

Each table had a centerpiece made with a lovely terracotta pot that carried a _sweet_ topiary—very Mary Margaret. Marshmallows, and strawberries were covered in white chocolate, and adorned with lavender swirls of the same candy as a treat for their guests.

There was a big sign "Emma &amp; Regina Baby Shower" hanging next to the booth that the 'second mothers' would be occupying with their close family, and many cut-out figures of diapers and baby bottles and the like were all over the walls, much to Granny's dismay.

The place was packed with people and the ambient was very harmonic, and Regina couldn't avoid crying a little when she said her words of gratitude to everyone present, and Emma felt her own eyes sting, too, but she held back her tears and laced her fingers with Regina's for support.

"Okay. Let's all play a game!" Mary Margaret exclaimed to draw everyone's attention.

"Ugh… Really?" Emma turned to Regina and knit her brow. "This is my least favorite part of baby showers," she murmured.

"Can't say I've been to many… or any, dear. So I'm actually quite curious about what your mother has in store," Regina told her and kissed Emma's cheek.

Mary Margaret went on and gave everyone a roll of toilet paper. "The person who guesses the right size of each of their baby bumps will earn a lovely prize."

"What? That's the game?" Regina asked Emma.

"Told ya… It's silly."

Everyone started tearing big pieces of paper from the roll, and would look at Regina and then to Emma to decide if they needed to rip some little squares off their original guess, or go ahead and take new and even longer piece.

After some minutes, the time was up and the ones who decided to join the game, would come to warp the toilet paper around the pregnant lady to measure and see if they'd guessed right, and Regina felt slightly uncomfortable at first because she wasn't used to being approached by other people than the Charmings, and people weren't used to approaching her either, but slowly got more comfortable and continued with the game.

As it was expected, Belle was the one who guessed the right size for both Emma and for Regina, and everyone was surprised that Regina's belly had been in fact the one slightly bigger than the other—the reason why all the others failed in their guesses, or maybe it had been their concern about bringing a too big piece of paper that might offend the mayor… that was probably the reason.

They received many presents, but the one they liked the most, was that of Charming and Snow's; the two white baby blankets.

They were extra tight in some parts, loose in others—done by beginners, it was obvious, and it was perfect. It was heart-felt and even Regina, being a perfectionist, couldn't dislike them—quite the contrary. It really showed their story with its ups and downs, its moments of weakness, and of strength—she found a deeper meaning to the knitting than what Snow White might have intended, which was also beautiful on its own way. And it was even more 'charming' because _charming_ had also helped; Henry secretly told Regina in the ear.

_The two idiots._

It took them years to get to this point, and it was all thanks to Henry, their _firstborn._ He was Regina's first reason to change for the better, and then it was Emma who kept her motivated, until they realized they had been in love for quite a long time, embraced their feelings, and allowed themselves this happy ending—which was still developing.

When they got home, Emma helped Regina put some of the baby clothes and blankets in the washer to get them ready for when the day came, which was quickly approaching. And when the laundry was over, Emma held one of the little dresses—a sailor white dress with a blue navy bow—and put it over her belly.

"Lucy will wear this one first," Emma said to Regina.

"You picked a name for your twin without me?" Regina asked her irritated.

"Relax, it's not yet decided, but I kinda like it. And you?"

"It's cute… Although, I was hoping we would choose more meaningful names," Regina responded, and went to sit down on one of the rocking chairs. "Or with the same initials, for the least."

"_Okay_… but we're not picking calendar names, and definitely not from our ancestors, 'cause there's no way I would be naming our girls after Eva, or Cora. Imagine that," Emma commented absentmindedly. "They'd be at each other's throats twenty-four seven," she mumbled.

"You really had to say that, didn't you? You know Henry's name is very meaningful to me, don't tease me about it."

"Sorry… but look, same initials? I always found that silly. It's a very_ posh _thing the rich do with their kids," Emma shook her head. "And also the naming after their mighty ancestors."

"We're royalty. We can afford it," Regina smirked.

"Ugh… Honey," Emma looked at Regina. "No."

"So Lucille it is for yours," Regina nodded. "Then mine shall be named Lorena," the brunette raised a cocky eyebrow. _Game on._

"You know, I think I prefer Amelia, now that I think about it," Emma grinned. _Two can play this game._

"Nice, and I think I vibrate more with Andrea," Regina changed her mind.

"Marina," Emma continued.

"Maribel," Regina easily followed.

"Helena," Emma challenged.

"Ha—Hmn…" Regina couldn't think of another nice name she liked with H. "Well played, Miss Swan," Regina pouted.

"Oh, come on. Don't get mad, my love," Emma went to her side and tried to kiss her pouty lips but Regina turned to the side to avoid her, and folded her arms over her chest.

"Hey! That hurts," Emma whined.

"I don't like you right now, Swan. Leave me alone."

"But, baby," Emma tried again and failed. "Regina…"

"Fuck off, Emma," Regina blurted.

It wasn't often that Regina cursed, but after spending so much time together, some of Emma's bluntness and bad manners had rubbed onto her, and Regina could get pretty colorful from time to time.

Emma couldn't stop herself from laughing at the silliness of their little fight, and Regina just continued to glare at her.

"I love Marina and Maribel," Emma confessed, and immediately both women felt the small kicks in their stomachs, and turned to look at each other in surprise.

"You're not the only one who does," Regina said pleasantly surprised.

"So that's it. They like their names," Emma knelt before Regina and put her hands over the brunette's belly.

"Do you, my little Maribel?" She asked in the sweetest voice Regina had heard yet, and Emma felt the kick of Regina's _twin._

"She does," Regina's tears fell.

She was very emotional and Emma's sweetness was so beautiful, it always got to her.

Emma took Regina's hand in hers and brought it to her belly. "Marina, duckling, kick mommy if you agree your other mommy should kiss her."

_A kick_—Regina felt Marina's not-so-light kick in her hand, and rolled her eyes at Emma.

"Duckling?" Regina smiled and shook her head. "Really, Miss _Swan_?"

"_Regal _duckling, my Queen," Emma said formally and made a light bow with her head.

"Come here dork," Regina pulled her close to kiss her lips lovingly.

* * *

Three more weeks passed and Emma and Regina looked really… fucked up. Swollen feet, puffy eyes from lack of sleep, discomfort on their backs—it wasn't all the time, but it was often that they'd be uncomfortable. But Regina was having more difficulty dealing with it than than Emma, for this was her first pregnancy and she wasn't sure she would be looking forward to a second.

_Wait. How on earth would they prevent that?_

Regina was freaking out one night after deciding she wanted no more _sexy time _because she felt gross, looked miserable, and—did she mention her back fucking hurt? Oh, and her breasts itched like hell_._ _But also she was insecure._

Emma offered to massage her with cocoa butter—no sexiness intended—but Regina knew she couldn't be trusted. Once she started fondling her belly, or even her shoulders, both women would fail to remain neutral to their bodies, and end-up doing more than just _soothing an itch. _They were too hot for each other even at this stage, and their tension—both sexual, and physical—was just piling up as Regina kept her distance.

_Agony—_that's what Regina felt when Emma's fingertips touched her back _strictly soothingly,_ secretly aching for a more intimate touch, and a soft moan escaped Regina's lips and Emma knew exactly what type of moan that was.

"If you want," Emma raked her fingers down Regina's back and stopped at the base, "I could, you know… _We_ could do things. Adult things…" Emma's fingertips rolled up slowly until stopping at her shoulders.

"No… I'm not—I don't need that kind of attention right now…" Regina responded and kept her gaze away from Emma's.

"But maybe I need you," Emma said openly. "You do realize we won't have time for us when these ducklings swim out?_"_ She appealed to Regina's judgment. "Not for quite a few weeks, or months, more after they join us. I can wait, but not so long…"

"I do… It's just I don't feel as _pretty_," Regina told her. "How can you want this?"

"Do you not find me attractive anymore? With this big belly and pink scars?" Emma asked in return.

"God, no. I find you most wondrous, Emma. You're so beautiful, and I find every inch of you perfect—inside and out—my love. Don't ever doubt that," Regina immediately turned to kiss her.

"That's exactly how I feel for you, Regina. Please never think I don't desire you, or find you less attractive. Not possible," Emma assured her.

"Emma…" Regina felt her heart swell with love and warmth.

"Don't deny yourself pleasure because you feel insecure about your appearance—you're perfect—and I want you so, SO very much." Emma moved Regina's hair from her right shoulder to her left. "Would you share your body with me?" She placed a kiss on her bare shoulder gently and made Regina shiver.

"Well, when you ask like that…" Regina tilted her head to the side to expose her neck. "I'm all yours."

Emma smiled widely and went after the beautiful neck that was being offered, and both women shared their bodies and got over their insecurities through their pure loving. It was quite possibly the sweetest lovemaking they'd had since their first time, which would always be memorable—and the one that gave them their magical pregnancies.

All this while Dr. Whale had continued studying their samples, and had revised most of Storybrooke's DNA records—not that big of a city, lucky for him—and had come to the conclusion that magic was part of everybody who came from the fairytale world, but only activated in small cases, like some_ diseases_. It could be a recessive trait, or evolutional, for all he cared. All he wanted was to understand it and now he did, but he knew no amount of True Love magic he could extract from these babies would ever be able to bring back his brother, so he finally gave up on his quest to bring back the dead. There was only so much a doctor could do.

* * *

As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!


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